Hummingbird
by Lady-of-stone
Summary: There was once a child who was dying. Why didn't she? Years later, an ancient organization, that has been going since the days of the great Pharaohs, has their sights set on the Tablet of Ahkmenrah, fearful of what it can do. It is only when running from these people that the young King Ahkmenrah bumps into an old acquaintance and takes a journey back to a time when he was alive.
1. Prologue

Prologue:

The girl cried.

She cried in her sleep. She cried whilst awake. Nothing could sooth her, or sedate her. During the long nights in the hospital bed, the six year old shed silent, but relentless tears as her pain increased. The doctors did not know what was wrong with her, only that her body refused to absorb the nutrients it needed and that her bones were becoming brittle enough to break simply by transferring her to another bed.

They also knew, though decided not to tell the child, that she was steadily growing blind. While she cried, the girl would only look up at the ceiling with her milky eyes, ignoring those surrounding her bed.

She could tell that she was losing her sight, despite the doctors' reluctance to tell her. Everyday she'd gaze at the ceiling, staring down the long hospital ceiling light, examining the several dead wasps trapped in its casing. And every day this same sight became dimmer.

She wasn't daft. She was aware of the doctors' concerns. They'd tried everything they could think of but it'd changed nothing. And nobody expected her to live.

_But how long?_ She wondered as the lights in her ward went out.

A kindly nurse had given her a small yellow teddy bear for company a couple of days after she was admitted to the hospital and, as she squinted at the darkened ceiling, she clutched the stuffed toy in a weak grasp, her bony little fingers clinging to the fabric. It had become harder to get to sleep. Every waking, moment the girl felt as though her veins where ignited, her blood pooling into the fiery inferno in her chest. The girl had learned to ignore the sweat that clung to her pale, clammy flesh, but the pains that distracted her would give her little leeway to sleep.

However, somehow, she managed to drift off, one hand grasping weakly at the teddy bear while the other gripped the unfamiliar hospital bed sheets.

That night the girl should have died.

So why didn't she?

"_A miracle"_, the doctors would say.

"_A mercy"_, her care workers would say.

There was only one person who knew exactly what caused the girl's sickness to fade overnight. They knew exactly why her limbs became strong again, while her flesh gained its colour and her veins lost their fire. And that girl saw them as she sat up the next morning, for the first time in months, and stared at her reflection in the mirror across from her bed. She stared into her eyes. Her clear, deep brown eyes. And, unknown to her, someone else stared back, with sadness and with gratitude.


	2. Chapter 1: The Late Hours

_**Disclaimer: I Do not own anything but my OC**_

Chapter 1: The Late Hours

_Some years later _

_The Museum of Natural History,_

The late hours at the museum were now a frequent thing for the visitors to experience. It had been going on for a few years and, in Larry Daley's opinion, it was a miracle that everyone still remained adamant in the belief that it was special effects that brought the place to life. Of course, to any other person, anything but special effects would have been impossible, surely, so the night guard was not too surprised that nobody had thought to question it yet.

This was the last night the museum was to be open, before the planetarium project was to begin. There would be no more visitors for a while but that was ok. Larry supposed that everyone would appreciate a little vacation time and have the place back to its quiet self for a bit.

Now, don't get me wrong, the exhibits loved the late hour openings. For so many years they had only been gawped at from behind glass, beyond their pedestals or, in Pharaoh Ahkmenrah's case, outside an extremely cramped and uncomfortable sarcophagus. Not fun. Now they had the chance to interact and really teach all those who visited them. But even the most enthusiastic teachers, namely their wax Teddy Roosevelt, would admit that a break would be nice, just to spend a few weeks chilling out and getting up and ready for the hordes of new visitors brought in by the upcoming planetarium.

Larry was wondering the first floor, where Attila was surrounded by children and telling his tales in Hun, and where the statue of Christopher Columbus wafted about, speaking rapid fire Italian to a group of enraptured teenagers who were following him. They may not know a word of what he was saying but the explorer was still pretty impressive to look at and listen to.

A few regular visitors waved at the familiar night guard as he strolled by. He gave them friendly nods as he headed toward Ahkmenrah's tomb. When he got there, the place was all but empty, most of those interested in ancient Egypt most likely downstairs, listening to the young Pharaoh himself. There was, however, one person wondering about. The girl in front of him stood silently, her legs clad in a pair of dark blue jeans and her arms crossed over a mauve shirt with what looked like some coat of arms printed on the front. She looked to be, perhaps, fourteen…fifteen? Her gazed lingered on a glass display case that held various bits and bobs that had been found in Ahk's real tomb, around fifty odd years ago. The girl was just studying a corroded Eye of Horus pendent, humming what sounded like the Game of Thrones opening theme, when Larry approached her.

"Hey," he said brightly. The visitor gave a small start as she noticed him. He held up his palms apologetically. "Sorry,"

The girl gave a small smile and answered quietly, "Nah, it's fine,"

She then turned her attention back to the cased up trinkets.

Larry glanced at the display before speaking again.

"You-uh…you into all this Egyptology stuff then?"

The visitor looked at him again and nodded.

"Yeah," she said, a grin spreading across her face, "I love everything to do with ancient Egypt. It's just such an amazing point in history,"

She had a distinctly British accent, Larry noted, though it wasn't as sophisticated as he'd heard them. Ahkmenrah's accent, for example, had a noticeably upper-class tint to it, which was understandable as he had learned the language from being surrounded by professors of Cambridge for several years. She may not have as posh an accent as the Pharaoh, but he was fairly certain he'd heard plenty worse as well. No, she was more on Dr McPhee's level, though not half as grumpy.

"Yeah, it was pretty cool," the night guard answered, though half to himself as well as he glanced again at the ancient artefacts surrounding them.

The stranger brushed her golden brown fringe from her eyes and stared up at Larry quizzically.

"So, you the night guard?" she asked, noting the uniform.

"Oh-yeah," he said, unconsciously straightening his tie.

"Cool,"

And she turned back to the display.

Larry was just about to leave her to it when she pointed out a simple bronze pendant, its symbol kind of resembling a rectangle with a dip in its upper side, holding an amber circle in that dip.

"Do, you know what that one is?"

Larry stepped forward and examined it closer.

"Uh…I'm going to say it's a pendant of some sort,"

From years of fathering practice he could almost hear the girl roll her eyes next to him.

"I mean, do you know what the symbol is? It doesn't have a label,"

"Oh," he tilted his head, "then I'm not sure,"

The visitor shrugged and smiled again.

"Thanks anyway," she said.

The girl then turned and headed for the tomb's entrance.

"Hey," Larry called after her and she stopped, just in front on the two giant Anubis statues who kept their heads only slightly tilted towards her. The man had to hand it to them; they knew when to stay put. "You could ask our resident Pharaoh. He should be downstairs with a tour group,"

The girl bit the inside of her cheek thoughtfully but then shook her head, her crossed arms tightening around her chest.

"I'm not really a tour group kind of person," she said quietly, her eyes on the floor.

"You could just catch him in between groups, he'll be cool with that," Larry continued. The stranger still seemed a little unsure. "Seriously, he'll know a lot more about this stuff than any label can tell you,"

The girl bobbed her head in contemplation and another small smile crossed he lips.

"I'll think about it," she said, and exited the room, casting a nervous glance behind her at the motionless Anubis statues.

oOo

Indeed, Larry had been right in thinking that the young Pharaoh was a little occupied. As King Ahkmenrah addressed the cluster of people grouped around him, Dexter the monkey gripped the magical ancient tablet tightly to keep it in place on its pedestal. The two were a regular duo during these talks of ancient Egypt, mostly because the little capuchin had serious difficulty keeping out of trouble anywhere else.

"This tablet was said to have magical properties, enchantments laced into the metal work by my father's greatest priests and most talented craftsmen," Ahkmenrah continued to the listening audience. "It was indeed a great treasure among my people, though its true value shall forever be lost,"

Someone raised a hand.

"Yes?" the Pharaoh gestured for the boy to speak.

"Did you have a big palace?" he asked.

Ahkmenrah gave a small grin and nodded.

"Indeed I did. A glorious marvel of architectural design that could rival the pyramids themselves. My family would dwell there and be waited on by our vast number of slaves and servants,"

"Wish I had a palace," the boy mumbled.

Another hand.

"Another question?" the young king said, nodding to the eleven year old girl in the front.

"Do yah still have your insides in those vase things?" she asked, earning a few sniggers from the other kids and a disapproving glance from her mother.

Ahkmenrah blinked.

"Well, the correct term would be Canopic Jars and my stomach, liver, lungs and intestines were removed during my mummification and sealed inside them," A few _ewes, yuks_ and wrinkled noses came from the audience. "Whether they are still there, I have no idea as I have not really thought to check,"

Dexter chattered from his perch and the Pharaoh continued.

"If there are no more questions, feel free to join your twenty sixth president's tour of the ground floor,"

And he gestured to the proud waxwork of Theodor Roosevelt, riding through on the back of his trusty mount, Texas.

"Come along," he said from his seat on the horse, "Don't be shy, I see adventure ahead. Which of you young ladies and men would like to accompany me?"

The crowd drifted away from Ahkmenrah and Dexter, veering towards the president. A couple of the parents gave thanks for the talk and the young man nodded in return. He was just turning to lift the tablet from its pedestal, ready to return it to its place in his tomb, when someone spoke from behind him.

"Sorry, hi," He glanced over his shoulder to see a girl in her early teens standing awkwardly behind him, "I wondered if you could answer a couple of questions,"

The young king smiled and turned to fully face her.

"What would you like to know?" he asked, graciously, now grasping the tablet between his own hands. Dexter, suddenly without a job, hopped off the stand and scampered away.

"Well, I was just looking at some of the treasures of Ahkmenrah in his tomb upstairs," she said, "and I noticed that not all of them have descriptions,"

"That's because not all of them are known," he countered.

"I was just curious. There's some pretty neat stuff up there,"

"Yes, I thought so," Ahkmenrah said, smiling even further, "I'm headed up there now. If you like, you can point out which you'd like to know about,"

"Yeah, sure,"

Her eyes crinkled into a smile as they headed towards the stairs.

"So, did you come here with your family?" the pharaoh asked to ward off the impending awkward silence.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Well sort of," she replied, "They're my foster family, Carol, Shawn and their daughter, Christy."

"Oh," He tried to remember what exactly a foster family was. "Are they nice people?"

She shrugged.

"Yeah, I suppose," she said, "I mean, I could have it so much worse. And they did pay for this holiday to America,"

"So you're from England?"

He knew he recognised the accent. It had been a while since his Cambridge days…or rather...nights.

The girl nodded.

"Shropshire," she said. Ahkmenrah couldn't say he knew exactly where she was talking about but he carried on, making the assumption that 'Shropshire' was somewhere in England.

_It sounds familiar,_ he thought, _Most definitely a county._ The girl continued. "And what about you? You sound like you've spent time in England,"

They were now wondering down the corridor that led to the young Pharaoh's tomb.

"I went to university there," he replied.

"University?" He nodded. "Sounds like a bundle of fun,"

Ahkmenrah made a face.

"Yes, it really wasn't," he said.

They entered the tomb and the young king shot a warning glare at the jackal headed statues.

"Not sure about the statues," he heard the girl murmur, "Creepy things,"

He cracked a small smile at that. If only she knew.

They approached the sarcophagus at the end of the tomb and the wall behind it, where Ahkmenrah carefully hung the precious tablet.

"Right," he said, turning away from the wall, "Which of the treasures did you wish to ask about?"

The girl showed him the pendant she'd asked Larry about before.

"The one that looks like a bobbing apple," she said.

Ahkmenrah bent to look closely at it and then straightened again.

"That symbol is known as an Akhet," he said, "it represents the horizon, where the sun sets and the sun rises. The god, known by the similar name of Aker, was said to guard the beginning and end of each day…"

The two spent the next half hour talking about what each un-named treasure was for and what they represented, the girl asking the questions, and the Pharaoh answering as best he could. After a while, the two heard someone cough at the entrance.

"Hey," said Larry from the doorway. He gestured with his thumb down the corridor, "It's nearly closing time kid. Also, I think some woman named Carol is looking for you,"

"Oh'eck," the girl muttered, only just noticing the time on her watch.

"I'll tell her you're on your way,"

"Yeah," she said distractedly, still looking at her watch, "Yeah, cheers,"

The night guard nodded and disappeared.

"Well, thanks for talking about all this," said the girl, looking up at Ahkmenrah. She gave a genuine smile. "Seriously, it's been really interesting,"

"I'm glad you found it so,-"

"Jessica," she finished, offering a hand.

The Pharaoh accepted it and they clasps forearms. The girl, Jessica, could have shown bemusement at doing this instead of the usual handshake, but her smile only brightened.

"Ahkmenrah," the young man replied, now formerly introducing himself.

Their arms parted, Jessica's head now cocked to one side with an amused expression on her face. Something about this gesture nagged at the back of the pharaoh's mind, but he brushed away with hardly a thought.

"Keeping character to the last," she grinned, "Admirable."

And then she turned and walked away, hands in pockets as she left the tomb.


	3. Chapter 2: Night Intruders

_**Disclaimer: I donnot own anything but my OC (and this is the last mild time skip. The only one after this will be spanning a few thousand years so I'm sure you'll forgive me that one)**_

_**Quick, and grateful, shout out to my reviewers so far: The Hopeful, Azkadela and keacdragon**_

_**Also, thank you so much for those who have started following this story (despite not having much to go on yet): **_

_**M'andil D'andusm'aril Peredhel, **_

_**Nightdaze, Proud Olympian, **_

_**Queen of Letters, **_

_**Winter Rainbows **_

_**and keacdragon**_

_**And a final cheers for those who have actually favourite my story :D : Sheyla Ryddle and guardian of art and bravery**_

Chapter 2: Night Intruders

_Three years later,_

_The British Museum,_

It was closing time at the British Museum. The visitors had all left and the one night guard was just locking up for the night when the van pulled up near the gates. It was not yet sunset and, to the individuals observing the building through tinted glass, it was imperative that they get in then out of the museum before the celestial body dipped below the horizon. The four had a job to do, and they didn't need any unnecessary… obstacles.

A moment later, the four black clad figures slid out of the vehicle and silently crossed the street, towards the delivery entrance to the museum.

oOo

Jessica Drake was hiding in a toilet cubicle. To be quite honest, she wasn't entirely sure what she was doing there. Earlier that afternoon, she had come to the museum, checking out the exhibits like every other visitor. The ancient Greek statues had been pretty cool and so had the hall of Asian culture. She had wondered about, blending in, examining the paintings, sculptures and broken pots from ancient times.

And then she went to the loo…and stayed there, huddled in the end stall until closing time came. The girl glanced at her watch and noted the time, confirming that the other visitors would be long gone by now. She stood up from the toilet seat and unbolted the cubicle door.

Exiting the tiled room brought her to a dimmed corridor, lined with display cases that held a variety of bronze aged weaponry, jewellery and crockery. It was dark and all too silent in the building now.

She shuddered.

"Way too creepy," the girl muttered, taking a key ring flashlight out of her jeans pocket. With one hand, she aimed it at the hallway in front of her while, with the other, she rummaged about in her jacket pocket for the museum map she'd picked up earlier.

After a quick glance at the map with the torch, she set off down the corridor to find what she was there for.

Suppose it would have been simple enough…if she even knew _what_ she was looking for.

oOo

It didn't take long to contain the night guard. The woman had been faced away from the first intruder, about to lock up the security booth by the gates to head inside, when he smothered her mouth with a drug drenched rag. After perhaps a minute of struggling, and a couple of deftly aimed punches to his visor covered face, the blond lost consciousness and dropped to the ground. It took two of the strangers to drag her body into the still open security booth and lock her, hidden, inside.

Meanwhile, the remaining two had dashed toward the side delivery door. The two crouched down and one pulled out, what looked like, a tiny buzz saw from a pouch attached to his hip and started to work on the bolt lock that was drawn from the other side. By the time the saw had done its work, the first duo had joined them by the door. With a slight push, the door opened and the four of them slipped inside.

oOo

Jess found herself in yet another hallway, this one lined with mounted animal heads and medieval weaponry. Her journey so far had taken her through a Celtic themed display room, a small prehistoric sea life exhibition and had now led her to, what she could assume, was the Middle Ages.

She'd had no success with finding the mystery object yet.

_Maybe,_ she thought to herself, _I should just accept that I am crazy and stop talking myself into these situations._

What she had come to call "the Negative side" of her brain answered,

_That'll be the day,_

She frowned and continued down the corridor, casting the torch beam from left to right which mostly served to enhance the shadows cast by display cases. She hoped she'd come across some windows soon and make the most of the remaining sunlight left to her.

_This feels so illegal._

_Well no shit, Sherlock._

_Oh, shut up._

The end of the corridor opened into another hallway. The girl was just debating which direction to take when a slight scuffling from the right caught her attention. She froze, and listened. It sounded like footsteps.

_Oh Hell's Bells,_ she thought, mentally punching herself in the kidney, _Night guards._

She flicked off her key ring flashlight and flattened herself against the wall in her corridor. She held her breath and stayed perfectly still as the footsteps sounded closer, and closer. It didn't sound as though there were only one or two pairs though. More like three, or four. The girl may have paused to realize how odd this seemed if they hadn't paused a mere few metres away.

Her heart leapt to her throat, panic getting the better of her now.

_Backtrack, BACKTRACK!_ screamed Negative side.

She shifted away from the corner hurriedly, not noticing her jacket sleeve get caught on the tusk of a mounted boar that had been right next to her. She gave a small yelp as its wooden plaque clattered against the wall and the sound ricocheted throughout the dimmed halls.

There was silence, and then the footsteps started again, this time faster, in pursuit.

Jess swallowed, turned and bolted down the corridor she had just come through, the pounding footsteps close behind her echoing through her brain. Somewhere along the line, she dropped her torch but didn't stop to retrieve it. She'd coped without it so far and wouldn't risk it.

_It's fine, I'll be fine._

The hallways were dark, but not unmanageable, as the girl managed to swerve round corner after corner, heading deeper into the museum, without crashing into anything.

She ran on, full pelt, her pursuers not far behind. She couldn't get caught, she just couldn't. Why was she there anyway? What the hell made her do this?

_Ok, less contemplating, more running!_

_Right,_

She quickened her pace, and she could hear her chasers falling behind.

Just when she rounded another corner, however, she collided into someone running up from the other end. The girl fell and landed arse first on the cold hard floor. The others caught up quickly and, as she looked up at them, she realized that these four were, in no way, night guards.

The strangers were all dressed in, what looked to be, black cotton and each had a shaded visor covering their face completely.

It appeared as though the girl was not the only uninvited guest at the museum.

One of the intruders grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and hauled her to her feet.

"Ow," she complained as the man's fingers dug into her collarbone. "Watch it,"

The four ignored her discomfort and began to mutter amongst themselves in a language that was unfamiliar to the girl. One of them gestured toward her and spoke in a bemused tone while the guy holding her up made a motion of covering her mouth, as though suggesting something. The third seemed to be agreeing with the second when the fourth barked at them viciously, tapping his wrist as though reminding them of the time and then made a gesture to what must have been a supply cupboard in the corridor behind them.

_Oh no,_ was her thought as she realized what the guy was proposing.

The four exchanged nods of agreement and the one holding her proceeded to drag the girl toward the cupboard door. The man opened it, flung her inside, and then slammed it behind her.

Jess got to her feet hurriedly and grasped at the door handle. She tried pushing down on it, shaking the door furiously, hoping it would open. No luck. They had somehow jammed the door from the outside.

"Hey!" the teen yelled through the wood, "Hey! Let me out!"

_That's going to work, _Negative muttered, _call to the burglars who locked us in here for help. Genius!_

She shook the door again.

"Seriously, let me out!"

But nobody answered. The four were probably several corridors away by now but she still yelled and screamed and shook the door, trying not to think about the dark space. Trying not to think about the pitch black nothing that surrounded her. Without her torch she couldn't do anything but pound the door and holler to be let out.

oOo

The four in black decided that they could not afford to waste any more time on caution. The team had wasted enough already on that girl. In truth, they would most likely have left her to whatever dubious act the teen had been up to if they hadn't thought she was another night guard. Unfortunately, after the chase, it had been too late. She had seen them and they couldn't risk her providing more problems so it had been a simple matter to seal her into the supply cupboard. But now they had very little time before sunrise to retrieve what they had come here for. With that thought in mind they ran full pelt towards the Egyptology life and death exhibition rooms, concern for cautiousness scattered as their deadline neared. They reached a small room, in which was placed the sculpture of a large, and very dangerous looking, serpent in the centre. They skirted strait past it, not bothering with the wooden platforms lining the sides of the room for visitors. As they left the room, man in black No. 4 glanced at his digital wristwatch.

Not long now.

The four dashed through a room filled with beautiful Chinese paintings, not thinking to stop to admire them, and rounded a corner.

I front of them lay three Egyptian Sarcophagi, each covered in gold, detailed carvings and rich paintwork. Each was easily fit for royalty.

And behind them, mounted on a tomb wall to overlook the caskets, was the Tablet of Ahkmenrah.

This was what they had come for.

The fourth man quickly dodged around the sarcophagi and reached for the precious heirloom. His fingers brushed against the sides.

And then the tablet began to glow.

_**Sorry there weren't any showings of the usual characters but there will be plenty of that in the next chapters :-) thank you so much for reviewing, following and maybe giving a cheeky fave to this story. C u soon**_


	4. Chapter 3: title too long to fit

_**Disclaimer: Still fairly certain I don't own Night at the Museum (I dunno, something could have happened last night) anyway, I don't own anything but my OC**_

_**Had a few problems with this, guys. I wrote most of it and then it closed without saving…heh heh…yay. Rewritten and, hopefully, a bit better than the original was.**_

_**Another quick shout out to the guys who reviewed my last page: keacdragon, DancingKitKat and EgyptianAngel**_

_**And nobody has stopped following me yet so YAY :D and thanks to,**_

_**M'andil D'andusm'aril Peredhel, **_

_**Nightdaze, Proud Olympian, **_

_**Queen of Letters, **_

_**Winter Rainbows **_

_**DancingKitKat**_

_**and keacdragon**_

_**And great big love hearts to the guys who have favourite my story, Sheyla Ryddle and guardian of art and bravery.**_

_Get on with it!_

_**Ok, getting on with it. Enjoy guys :)**_

Chapter 3: The Thieves in the Tomb and the Thief in the Cupboard

For years it had been Ahkmenrah's first impulse to slam against his sarcophagus lid when he woke up. For most of the last fifty years, or so, he'd been trapped inside the damned thing, dust in his lungs, wrapped in unbelievably itchy bandages and very little room for movement. Those nights, he'd felt alone and imprisoned, nobody willing to help him or even speak civilly to him. He'd spent all that time in darkness and, after he was finally freed, the young king never wanted to feel that way again, even for a moment. And so, for those first few months after his release, slamming off his casket lid would be the first thing he did once he woke up, not wanting to spend any more time trapped under the thing than necessary.

The instinct had lessened over the years but, tonight, when waking up to the sounds of frantic scrabbling outside his sarcophagus, something inside him clicked and the old impulse found itself flaring up again.

The Pharaoh felt panic course up his throat and he let out a yell as his arms shot up, catapulting the heavy lid into the air.

_**Thwack**_

Something… or someone had been hit.

Ahkmenrah sat bolt upright, ready to apologise to Tilly, worried that he'd hit her.

But it wasn't the night guard sprawled on the floor next to his casket. It was a stranger all dressed in black and wearing an odd shield of dark plastic over his face and, on the floor not too far away from the man, lay the magic tablet. The stranger appeared to have dropped it when he had been whacked by the coffin lid….but why had that stranger even been touching it?

Ahkmenrah narrowed his eyes and glanced about the room to see three other black clad intruders standing either side of the sarcophagus and staring at the young Pharaoh. At least, he assumed they were staring at him. Their heads were turned towards him, though the rest of their bodies were preoccupied with sealing the lids of the sarcophagi either side of him with some form of metal wire.

_Rattle, clatter._

Both sarcophagi shook and juddered and Ahkmenrah could hear the muffled voices of his parents trying to force themselves out. The three's attentions turned quickly back to keeping the royal couple in their coffins while the first man, the one he'd hit who had now recovered somewhat, leaped from his place on the floor to grab the young king by the robed shoulders and force him back into the casket.

Ahkmenrah struggled dazedly, still unaware as to what was going on, as the man pressed a foul smelling bit of rag over his mouth and nose. As he fought, the young king noticed that a slit of flesh was showing on the man's neck, just enough for the symbol tattooed there to be visible. The image resembled an Egyptian feather hieroglyph, placed inside a rectangle. Ahkmenrah's eyes widened in recognition. He knew that symbol.

By now the smell of the rag was making the Pharaoh's head go fuzzy, but he forced his brain to snap back to alertness, just enough to shoot a knee into his attacker's ribcage, followed swiftly by a well-aimed punch to the man's exposed throat.

The man let go and, unable to breath, stumbled to the floor again, clutching his neck and making unattractive wheezing noises.

Now that the rag was gone, Ahkmenrah took his chance and sprung out of the sarcophagus, landing on the floor next to the fallen attacker. He quickly retrieved the dropped tablet, which had been left on the floor during the struggle, and backed up towards the door.

One intruder dropped to aid the man he'd struck, while the other two, upon noticing the free pharaoh, abandoned the sealed sarcophagi of his parents and faced him.

Ahkmenrah knew he should run, but he hesitated. He couldn't leave his family here, trapped as he once was, imprisoned in the dark. Though, while his heart told him to stay and face these people, his head told him not to risk losing the tablet to them and to just get out of there. He somehow doubted that what they wanted with the magical artefact was anything good.

The two strangers were edging closer now, cautiously, fully aware that the pharaoh could easily turn and flee with their prize. Ahkmenrah had his eyes fixed upon the intruders, but his ears were focused on the deafening pounding and juddering of the two caskets behind them. Merenkahre slammed against the lid with such force that, somehow, he managed to lift it up a crack under its metal bonds.

"AHKMENRAH!" the older pharaoh hollered from the open slit, fearful that his son was in danger.

"Father?!" the younger called back, gripping the tablet, conflicted and unsure what to do.

One of the strangers carefully slipped a hand into a pouch at his waist and the young king heard something crackle under the man's fingers.

"RUN!" yelled his father.

And so, with reluctance, Ahkmenrah turned and ran.

As he sprinted out of the room, all heard were the pounding footsteps of his pursuers and the voice of Merenkahre echoing down the hall from behind.

"DON'T LET THEM GET THE TABLET!"

The pharaoh's sandals slipped on the surface of the floor but he kept going. The men would catch up with him, he knew it. He needed to lose them somehow.

A thought struck him.

_The Xiangliu_,

The young king raced toward the room of the sleeping serpent, giving a loud and piercing whistle as he entered to wake up the said sleeping serpent. Safe to say, the creature was none too happy.

As the two in black attempted to pursue the pharaoh through the room, they found their way blocked by the nine extremely ticked off heads of the iron cast beast.

As Ahkmenrah exited, he gave a quick nod in greeting to the bemused, monkey-like Garuda statue and carried on running.

The museum was fully awake now, the hallways now bright with artificial light. Sculptures, stuffed animals and wax figures dressed for different periods in history where wondering through the halls and corridors of the building, oblivious to the impending threat to their night life. A few gave the pharaoh friendly waves as he tore past but he couldn't afford to stop and acknowledge them. He'd prefer not to cause a panic. In a museum a large as this, panic would not be a good idea.

As he ran, Ahkmenrah thought back to the symbol he'd seen his attacker bare.

The feather of Ma'at.

To his knowledge, there was only one group of people associated with that mark, but surely they hadn't lasted for _that_ long. He hadn't thought that they were 'still in business', shall we put it. Evidently he had been mistaken. But what did they want with the tablet?

Well, no matter what they wanted with it, hiding it in the museum would not do them much good. Even if the four present were apprehended, the exhibits had only until sunrise and Ahkmenrah doubted their people would bother waiting until closing time to try stealing the thing again. Knowing their establishment, they would not be averse to tearing down the building to retrieve it.

The pharaoh had just rounded a corner into a corridor of severed, snarling animal heads when he saw a familiar waxwork standing at the end of the hallway, the skeleton of a triceratops at the man's shoulder.

The knight, Lancelot, turned to see Ahkmenrah hurry towards him, tablet in hand and missing his crown. Unusual for the young pharaoh.

"My king," the knight exclaimed as Ahkmenrah halted in front of him, "What in Merlin's name-"

"No time," the other interrupted, chest heaving as he bent over to catch his breath. He gave Lancelot a quick rundown of what had happened and why he didn't want anyone else getting involved. "We can't have people panicking. Only chaos will ensue if we do,"

The knight placed a hand on the hilt of his sword.

"What would you bid me do sir?"

The young king squared his shoulders.

"I need you to go down there and help my parents. They have been trapped in their sarcophagi and I was… unable to stay and free them,"

"And the trespassers?"

"Try to keep them in one place. I need time to think of what to do with this," He glanced down at the tablet in his grasp. "It needs to be hidden,"

The man gave a nod and quickly strode down the hall, whistling for Trixie to follow.

"Good luck to you sir," he called behind him.

"Likewise,"

Ahkmenrah turned away from the departing knight and dinosaur, gripped the tablet more tightly, and continued at a brisk walk. He traversed through the halls and corridors, lost in his thoughts, his mind trying to work out why these people were after the tablet and what he was going to do with it both at the same time, which only led to thoughts as messy as a hoarder's basement.

He was snapped back to reality by the sound of his foot sending something small skittering across the floor. He blinked and knelt to examine the object. His hand reached down and picked up a very small flashlight, tiny enough to fit inside a pocket and which had a key ring attacked to the end.

Ahkmenrah frowned and rolled the torch between his tanned fingers. Perhaps one of the intruders had dropped it. He certainly doubted it belonged to any of the exhibits.

The pharaoh stood up and carried on down the hall. He passed several waxworks dressed in Tudor garbs and a couple of bronze elephants on his way through the building. Beyond a certain point, the corridors were silent, everyone having left to visit some other part of the museum. But then the distinctive sounds of frantic hammering reached the pharaoh's ears, and the muffled voice of someone yelling drifted down the corridor. He frowned and followed the sounds until he came to an empty hallway, from which they seemed to be issuing. Ahkmenrah then noticed the door, of what could be assumed to be a cleaning cupboard, which was held shut from the outside by loops of metal wire. The bonds were wrapped around the door handle and the metal peg of the fire extinguisher, situated right next to the door, making the cupboard near impossible to open from the inside. Edging closer, the pharaoh also noticed the door was shaking violently, as though whoever must have been trapped inside was trying their utmost to wrench the thing from its hinges. As he parked himself in front of it, the young man could hear the angry screaming of the cupboard's occupant.

"…WILL TAKE THOSE VISORS AND SHOVE THEM UP YOUR-"

"Hello?" he interrupted, calling through the wood.

The juddering and yelling halted.

"Hello?!" a voice shouted from inside.

The pharaoh looked down and scrutinized the wires sealing the door, the unmistakable handiwork of the four masked intruders. Which was odd, he thought, as they'd been in Egypt when the sun had set, so why had they had to lock someone away when everyone was asleep? Unless it was Tilly trapped in there.

"Hello?!" the stranger called out again, an edge of clear panic in her voice, "Get me out! Please, I need to get out _right now_!"

Definitely not Tilly.

"Calm yourself," he answered evenly, setting the tablet down against the wall by the door and kneeling to untangle the wires from the handle, "I'm going to try unsealing the door!"

He heard the stranger take a few heaving breaths and then reply, "Ok,"

The pharaoh turned his attention toward the bonds and began disentangling them.

"I don't suppose it was a group of men dressed in black who put you in there was it?" he asked as he worked.

"Caused trouble for you to?" she answered, shakily. And then, with wariness in her tone, "Wait. Are you a night guard?"

The young king cocked an eyebrow. It seemed as though his attackers were not the only uninvited guests he had on his hands.

"No," he said, nearly finished with the wires. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason whatsoever,"

"Good,"

Ahkmenrah pulled away the last of the lines, stood up, and opened the door.

A girl in her late teens stumbled out onto the floor and gasped, blinking at the sudden light of the hallway. She crawled away from the small, dark cupboard, face pale and eyes darting about her surroundings.

She looked up at the pharaoh and Ahkmenrah found himself staring into a pair of oddly familiar dark brown eyes. Come to think of it, the rest of her seemed quite familiar as well.

The girl swept her light, golden chestnut fringe out of her eyes, tucking it back into her hair tie, and squinted at the young man stood in front of her.

"Urm, thanks for that," she said, composing herself. She wiped a hand across a slightly puffy eye.

Had she been crying?

Ahkmenrah nodded and held an arm out to help her up. The girl waved the offered hand away and got up herself. As she brushed herself down, the pharaoh inspected her, the nagging voice of recognition prodding about in his head.

She was wearing a pair of dark jeans, red trainers and a rather baggy grey hooded jacket. Her long hair was tied back into a ponytail and she was now looking at him with quizzical eyes.

"Don't I know you?" she asked, cocking her head to one side. That gesture only made the girl seem more familiar. "Wait, you're that guy from New York,"

Ahkmenrah blinked.

"I'm sorry?"

She nodded, certain now.

"Yeah, took me a moment. No crown. You're the guy from the museum, King… something?"

So she had known him in New York?

The pharaoh turned away and picked up the tablet from the floor.

_Possibly a visitor during the night hours_.

He reeled through his memories of those nights, trying to place her, with no success. Nonetheless, he answered, still turned away,

"Akmenrah,"

The girl nodded again.

"Yeah, that was it. Sorry, three years is a long time to remember a name like that,"

_I manage,_ he thought. And then he remembered something. Yes, three years ago. He _did_ remember her being there. He'd just been asked about palaces and his missing organs. But, why on Earth would he recognise her eyes of all things?

"Did you ask me about the things in my tomb?" he wondered, facing her again.

"Yeah," She gestured at the tablet and his clothes, which he had taken to sleeping in now that the bandages were gone. Her gaze lingered on the tablet a moment but then the look was gone and she focused on him. "Still doing the whole pharaoh thing then?"

Ahkmenrah gave a tight smile.

"Yes, I'm still doing 'the pharaoh thing'." He replied.

"And…you're working…here?" she asked, slowly.

"Yes,"

She nodded a third time.

"Right," she said, looking behind her, guiltily. She brushed the fringe out of her eyes again and backed up. "Well, thank you…again, for," she gestured to the open cupboard, "you know. I've really got to get going now. It was nice to see you again and I hope your acting career lifts off one day,"

"Urm-"

She was getting visibly nervous now, backing up down the hall.

"You know, West End? Maybe you'll go back to America one day and try for Broadway. Who knows?" She was definitely trying to detract his attention from the obvious. "Really. Gotta go now,"

She turned.

Ahkmenrah frowned.

"Hold on," he called after her. She froze and turned back to face him, though couldn't bring herself to look him in the eye. "How is it that you came to be locked in a museum storage cupboard after its closing hours?"

She crossed her arms and shrugged.

"The guys in black jumped me," she muttered, eyes to the floor.

"And you were here to _be_ 'jumped' because…?"

"Would you like a believable story or the true one?"

Ahkmenrah narrowed his eyes.

"Why are you here?" She didn't answer. "Were you going to steal something?"

"That was _my_ first guess," she said, biting her cheek "Then I realized that even I wouldn't be that crazy…and then I decided that maybe I am,"

Ahkmenrah walked towards her.

"Is this yours?" he asked when he stopped before her. The pharaoh held the key ring torch in front of her eyes.

The girl nodded and took it from him graciously.

"Thanks," she mumbled. Ahkmenrah sighed and his face softened to see the girl, a picture of guilt. "I really don't know why I came here," she continued, quietly.

"Surely the darkened halls and locked doors gave you some idea of how illegal what you were doing was," he said, sarcastically.

She glared at him through the long fringe that kept coming out of the ponytail and covering her left eye.

"Yeah, I know, I'm stupid. Could you just call the authorities already?"

"Well, no offense to your efforts- erm,"

"Jessica,"

"Jessica-"

"Or Jess. Second meeting, you can call me Jess."

"Fine, Jess, - but your intrusion does not take priority for me at the moment,"

As if on cue, the distant sounds of shrieking and spooked animal noises from further in the museum drifted up the hallway to reach them.

"Oh no," the young king muttered. The four must have gotten loose. They'll be looking for him and the tablet, causing hysteria on the way.

"Is there a party going on down there?"

Ahkmenrah shook his head.

"Come on," he said, grabbing Jess by the forearm and pulling her down the corridor in the opposite direction.

"Hey," she protested, "Where are we going?"

"I have absolutely no idea," he replied, "Just follow me and run,"

_**Ok so, I got this out as soon as I could. If you have any questions then feel free to ask. I will answer if it will not be addressed in the plot. I hope you enjoyed this one and I shall get writing the next asap. Please follow, fave and review. And another thank you to those who have :)**_


	5. Chapter 4: Changes of Mind

_**Disclaimer: Still own none of the characters**_

_**Thanks again to those who reviewed my last chapter: DancingKitKat and keacdragon**_

_**And to those who are still following me (I think I agained and lost a follower since I last wrote. Not nice for my self-confidence but oh well :') **__heh, I'm crying inside__**:**_

_**DancingKitKat**_

_**M'andil D'andusm'aril Peredhel **_

_**Nightdaze **_

_**Proud Olympian **_

_**Winter Rainbows **_

_**And keacdragon**_

_**And now I grab either side of your face and give you a whopping kiss on the forehead, those who have kept me on their favourites :D :**_ _**Sheyla Ryddle and guardian of art and bravery.**_

_**Ok, so I hope you like this one. Enjoy…**_

Chapter 4: Changes of Mind

"So, what's your real name then?" Jess puffed out as she ran behind Ahkmenrah through the museum corridors. Ahkmenrah winced slightly. From the distant depths of the building the sounds of the exhibits rushing about and unnerved yelling could be heard by the two.

The young king was trying to decide whether now was an appropriate time to tell her what was actually going on. It would be less messy to convince her now than to have her go into shock if they accidently bumped into the marble statue of Socrates or something even more bizarre on their way to…where-ever they were headed. The pharaoh _hmm_'d internally for a couple of seconds before they heard the distant _roar_ of Trixie from somewhere further in the building.

"What in the name of sanity was that?" the girl sprinting after him called.

"Ahkmenrah,"

"What?"

The young king shot a glance behind him, hoping she'd leave off questioning the dinosaur roar until he'd explained.

"That is my real name,"

She made a face.

"What, your name is Ahkmenrah?"

"Yes,"

He turned to face the corridor ahead again and they rounded a corner.

"You mean to say, your name is Ahkmenrah, and you play an ancient pharaoh… with the same name?" she panted, "Wow, didn't think that name would be so popular,"

"Yes- I mean, no," His chest heaved slightly as they kept going, though he noticed that Jess was having a little more trouble keeping her breath behind him. He slowed to a stop in the middle of a hall displaying cabinets of bronze-age crockery. She halted beside him and doubled up, heaving in large breaths of oxygen.

"Sorry," she said, holding up a hand, "I. have. done. too. much. running. tonight,"

He raised an eyebrow.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she straightened, "Sorry, what were you saying?"

"I was saying," He turned to face her properly, "That I _am_ Ahkmenrah. Fourth king of the fourth king and so-on," He made a '_so-on'_ gesture with his hand.

Jess blinked.

"The pharaoh?" she said, unconvinced.

Ahkmenrah nodded.

"Yes, the pharaoh,"

She looked at him blankly.

"The ancient Egyptian king who died some-odd thousand years ago?"

"Yes,"

"The ancient Egyptian king who should be a shrivelled up mummy in the Egypt section round about now?"

The young pharaoh frowned.

"Well that's a little harsh," he muttered before adding, "Yes,"

The girl nodded, looked at him a moment, and then her face creased and she snorted. Her shoulders began to shake and she couldn't hold back the giggles.

"A mummy," she chuckled, "you are actually trying to convince me that you're a mummy,"

She bent over again, this time with laughter. Ahkmenrah grumbled and muttered something incoherent in ancient Egyptian before trying to speak over Jess's snorting.

"Yes, I am an ancient Egyptian pharaoh who, admittedly, _should _be a dried out corpse right now and dining in the afterlife with Horus by my side but I'm not. Do you want to know why?"

Jess's laughing died off slightly and she gestured for him to proceed, a grin badly hidden behind her expression.

"Go ahead," she said, trying not to smirk.

Ahkmenrah's eyes narrowed at her but he proceeded.

"It's because of this," he said, holding up the tablet for her to see properly.

There it was again, that same look she'd had on before, when she'd first seen the magical heirloom, an uneasy glint in her eye as she stared at it. And then it was gone again, like it had before, and she looked up at the young man before her spouting lunacy.

"The golden bathroom tile?"

He glared at her, warningly.

"That is one of my people's greatest treasures you're calling a lavatory decoration,"

She held her hands up in apology.

"Sorry," she said, "So how does the golden not-a-bathroom-tile stop you from dining with Hawk-head in the afterlife?"

_And there's one of my people's most worshipped gods insulted, _he thought, but didn't say anything for fear that she'd offend yet another sacred …something from his culture.

"Every sunset," he said, "the tablet starts to glow-"

_Snicker_

"Stop it." The girl stopped and remained silent, allowing him to continue. "And when it glows it brings everything in the building to life,"

She raised an eyebrow.

"Everything?" she said, "Wait, so, you're saying that every night, you come alive?"

Ahkmenrah nodded.

"Me as well as everything else in the museum,"

"Like the statues and skeletons and stuff?"

"Yes,"

Jess rubbed her eyes tiredly, a light smile on her face.

"And when the sun comes up?"

"We all revert back to our lifeless states during the day,"

"And the guys in black?"

"Are trying to steal it, yes," he finished.

"Of course they are," She took her hand away from her face and shoved them both in her pockets. A smile tinged her voice as she said, "Well, it was nice to seeing you, you wacko,"

Ahkmenrah's frown deepened as she drifted passed him, heading to the other end of the corridor.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"If you're not going to call the police, home," she answered, not turning back, "I already have one crazy person to deal with. I don't need another,"

He was curious.

"Who's the first," he enquired.

"Myself," Jess replied, almost to the end of the hall, the smile still in her voice. "You thought I snuck into a museum, ready to steal something, I still don't know what, because I'm sane?"

Ahkmenrah sighed and headed up the corridor after her. She would have to deal with the hard, risk-of-a-heart-attack, way.

"I admit, I thought you unlikely to believe it," he said, drawing up beside her at the opening to a second corridor. "You may go, and best of luck to you." He pointed left. "Exit's that way. Don't steal anything,"

The girl looked at him suspiciously.

"Ok," she replied, "Good luck with the burglars, I guess,"

"Oh, I'll think of something,"

She nodded slowly, eyes narrowed. She didn't trust this, he could tell. He'd been spouting baloney before and now it was just '_cheerio'_? But, he was letting her leave without repercussions, so she wouldn't complain.

"Bye then," she said, slowly.

Jess was about to head left when the two felt a slight tremor and then a _clank, clank, clank_ coming from the right. They both turned their heads to look and were greeted by the sight of the bronze 'Statue of Tara', 'The Discus Thrower' and two wax monks round the corner at the end of the corridor. 'The Discus Thrower' spotted the young king and called out something in panicked Greek. The others noticed where the statue was looking and the four marched down the hallway toward the two.

"Holy mother of Moses," Ahkmenrah heard the girl beside him breathe.

_Moses,_ he thought, _sounds familiar…..Wait, no, he was after my time._

"King Ahkmenrah," said one of the monks as they drew up beside the two. The 'Statue of Tara' glanced behind them nervously. The monk continued. "Those masked maniacs are causing havoc,"

'Discus Thrower' said something else in Greek.

"Yes," the monk nodded, "as our marble brother has witnessed, they carry lightning in their palms and are attacking innocent exhibits,"

The larger statue nodded and used his marble discus to mime touching someone and electrocuting them. Ahkmenrah's looked on in alarm, only now realizing what the man had been about to use on him back at the tomb. It must have been a Taser of some sort. Admittedly, he'd never really experienced being tasered but the young king did not imagine it being particularly pleasant.

"Talking statues," Jess was still murmuring.

The second monk now chipped in.

"As far as we know, nobody's severely damaged….yet,"

The Greek sculpture chimed in once again and the first monk translated.

"Oh yes, and Sir Lancelot is asking where you are,"

"Lancelot?" His ears pricked at this. Had the knight been able to help his parents? Were they safe?

"Lancelot," Jess muttered with a tiny unhinged chuckle. He ignored her.

"Where is he?" he asked.

The monks nodded back to where they had come.

"He's trying to form a hunting party," the second monk replied, "Discus wanted to join but we all agreed he'd be better off blocking the main exit rather than the corridors the others are trying to move through,"

The Greek shrugged dismally, while the 'Statue of Tara' patted his bicep sympathetically.

Ahkmenrah nodded in thanks to the monks.

"I'll see to it Brother Benjamin," he reassured, "Just, get somewhere safe and, if you come across any of the strangers, do not approach them,"

"You don't have to tell me twice," the wax man griped. He gave a respectful bow of the head to the king, as did the second monk, and the four began hurrying down the left of the corridor, toward the exit.

Ahkmenrah glanced at Jess, who had remained beside him. She was eyeing the departing exhibits, eyes narrowed and mouth only slightly open, as though on the brink of speech but lost for words.

"Greek statue," she muttered, "'The Discus Thrower' just walked passed me,"

"Take a couple of breathes," the young pharaoh told her, gently grabbing her shoulders and steering her down the right corridor.

"'The Discus Thrower' ….and a monk," She was sounding a tiny bit deranged by now. "And a metal lady,"

Ahkmenrah lightly patted her right shoulder.

"Two monks, actually. Very nice people. They were slaughtered in the early sixteenth century during the monastery raids ordered by Henry VIII,"

"Looking good on it," was all Jess could think of to say.

The young king nodded in agreement.

"Come on," he said, gradually directing her around the corner and towards a display room up ahead, from which sounds of hustle and bustle could be heard drifting up the hallway. "We need to find Lancelot,"

"Lancelot," she murmured, dazedly, "sure, why not?"

They entered the room, which was full of empty pedestals and dioramas, making it hard to tell what aspect of history it was meant to be displaying. What didn't help the identification was the bustling array of exhibits milling amongst each other. Metal birds darted passed the new-comers, letting out shrill squawks as they flew by. Jessica stumbled backwards at the sound, her eyes jerking from left to right about their sockets, taking in the scene. The birds wove in and out of the collection of marble, wax and assorted metal figures, who were all surrounding the armoured knight standing on a display podium, and the triceratops skeleton, in the middle of the room.

"Right, men!" Sir Lancelot announced loudly. The exhibits halted their chattering as they heard the man speak. A cough came from somewhere in the crowed and the knight looked to see a Venus statue glaring at him with a raised eyebrow. "And esteemed ladies," he quickly corrected. The Venus smiled contently.

Lancelot cleared his throat and addressed the band of volunteers again.

"You know why I have called you here," he said, "We have a potential disaster on our hands,"

A few mutters from the crowed.

"Not only have four outsiders witnessed our coming to life at night, threatening our way of living, but they have come here intending to steal the Tablet of Ahkmenrah,"

The exhibits let out collective gasps, while the various animals in the mix squawked or grunted in alarm. Lancelot held up a hand to silence them.

"As you know, the tablet is what brings us to life every night and so, in attempting to steal it, these invaders not only threaten our way of living, but our very existence." He looked at the crowed about him, a serious glint dead set in his eyes. "You have all volunteered to hunt the trespassers down and detain them. If they cannot be captured, kill them!"

Ahkmenrah coughed pointedly, while trying not to draw the exhibits' attention toward him. As much as he liked the idea, they couldn't risk causing a full scale war between them and the people the four were working for. Lancelot spotted the pharaoh at the back.

"Fine. Don't kill them!" the knight emended. "A spot of maiming should be fine though,"

The pharaoh glared at him and shook his head slowly.

"Ok, maiming's not good either," He sighed, "Try not to harm them but do your best to find and capture the four. Keep them confined for the time it takes for the tablet to be taken to safety. Be wary of one particular man, who has been witnessed using some form of electrocution to incapacitate some of our other exhibits," He received nods of understanding from all with heads, while the statues who were missing that specific limb simply gave jerky thumbs ups. "Very well!"

Lancelot pointed to his right.

"You five, take the west wing,"

The two bronze statues and three wax Edwardians made deft salutes and shuffled out of the room. Lancelot pointed at a small group in from of him.

"You four Romans, take the east exit. Discus already has the main entrance covered,"

The marble figures nodded and exited.

The knight continued this way, whittling down the crowd as he assigned directions. When the room was at last empty, well, empty save for the knight, dinosaur, pharaoh and would be burglar, the wax man focused on the newcomers.

"Sire," Lancelot greeted, stepping down from the podium.

"Lancelot," Ahkmenrah said, hurrying to him, "My parents, are they safe?"

"Don't worry yourself my King," Lancelot thumped the pharaoh on the shoulder, "I would not fail you. Your family is safe at the far end of the building. On the assumption that these thieves are attempting to either escape or come after you and the tablet, I thought it wise to have them hide as far away from their two objectives as is possible,"

"Well thought," the pharaoh nodded gratefully, "Thank you,"

Someone coughed from a few feet behind the king. Ahkmenrah turned, almost having forgotten that Jessica was still there.

"Yeah, hi," she said quietly, "still here,"

The girl was pale and looked very much on edge. Ahkmenrah frowned sympathetically.

"Are you-"

She cut him off with the waving of a hand and turned away from the three. Jess brought her hands to her eyes and started rubbing them irritably, muttering under her breath as she did so.

"Ok," she murmured with a sigh, "walking statues, talking wax… Lancelot, stuffed animals…

The knight shifted closer to the young king's ear.

"Who is she?" he asked quietly.

"…dinosaur…" they heard her continue.

"She was a museum visitor," Ahkmenrah muttered in reply, deciding to keep the girl's previous ulterior motives to himself. He didn't need the knight sending another group after _her_. "I found her locked in a cupboard. The doing of our uninvited guests,"

"Right," he said, falteringly. "Have you thought about what to do with the tablet?"

Ahkmenrah shook his head.

"I've been a little preoccupied,"

"Oh," The knight nodded, and then frowned. "What is she doing?"

The pharaoh focused on her again. She'd started rubbing her temples, eyes screwed shut.

"…flying bird statues…shut up you stupid-" she was murmuring to herself.

Ahkmenrah spoke.

"Jess-"

"Shush." She held up a shaking index finger to silence him. Another few seconds went buy, her eyes still closed and faced away from them. Eventually they opened again and she spoke, now in a deceptively calm voice.

"So," she said, "you're a few thousand year old mummy?"

He nodded.

"Yes,"

She faced them, sucking at the inside of her cheek.

"And those other guys," she continued, gesturing toward the doors where the others had exited, "They're living exhibits?"

"Yes,"

The girl rubbed a hand down her face. Her hand was shaking. She then nodded towards the knight by his side.

"Sir Lancelot?"

The armoured figure gave a little wave.

"Yes," Ahkmenrah answered.

"Ok," She gave a deep breath. "Mmmm, this day got so weird," she groaned.

The young pharaoh shrugged helplessly.

"I tried-"

"Oh, don't say anything," she interrupted, "Don't you even _think_ of saying 'I told you so'"

Lancelot tried stepping in at this point, taking a couple of steps toward her, offering a hand to the girl.

"I don't think we've been introduced," he tried. She just looked at him, witheringly.

"Please go away,"

He held up his hands apologetically, if a little awkwardly, and stepped back again.

"I'm sorry," Ahkmenrah said, "I only wanted to warn you before something like 'The Discus Thrower' happened."

"Yes," she sniped, "Yes you did try to warn me," Her voice became a little higher as she spoke. "And you were right. Right about everything!"

The young man opened his mouth to say something and the girl shoved a hand up to silence him.

"Don't! Seriously, just shut up. I don't want to know,"

Jessica backed away, towards the door through which they had come.

"Where are you going?" asked Lancelot. She ignored him, turning around to start walking towards the exit.

Ahkmenrah tried.

"Jess, where are you going?"

"Home!" she snapped back, "I need to get home. I just….I can't handle all this crap,"

"The visored men are still out there,"

She spun sharply to look him in the eye.

"I don't care! To be honest, all I want is to wake up back in that cupboard with the knowledge that I just passed out and this is a dream! Besides," She gestured to Lancelot, who was standing awkwardly behind the pharaoh, "Sir Waxelot here's sent his freak fellowship off to get the buggers so I should be fine,"

"If these people see you trying to leave, they my suspect you of knowing something about the tablet. They'll try to stop you."

"Oh, let them try. I'm leaving and that's an end to it," She backed up again, "Now I hope you, and your magic toilet tile, live happily ever after. Goodbye."

She turned and almost ran into Trixie the dinosaur, who was stood blocking half the door. Jess yelped and stumbled sideways a couple of feet.

"SERIOUSLY?!" she yelled at the fossil. The girl made shooing gestures with her arms. "Move! Go on!"

Trixie whined and backed away from the door, tail between her legs.

Jess glared at the dinosaur before striding out of the display room.

All was silent for a few moments. At least, until Lancelot piped up,

"What a charming girl,"

And Ahkmenrah had no idea if he was being sarcastic or not.

oOo

The girl stormed down the corridor, this time choosing the left turning which Ahkmenrah had previously pointed out as the exit route. Her eyes were boring holes into the floor ahead of her and she flinched away from any of the exhibits that passed near her.

_No,_ she kept thinking, _this is just a dream. Tomorrow, I'll wake up and everything will be normal._

_Or you could just be nuts,_

_Oh great, it's you again._

She could almost imagine her negative side huffing and folding its metaphorical arms.

_That could have gone so much better you know._

Jessica scowled as she strode through the halls, diving into hiding spaces whenever she heard one of Lancelot's hunting groups roam about. She did not want to get more tangled up in this place than was necessary.

_You think I don't know that?_

_*snicker* You were babbling like a deranged idiot back there._

_Ugh, _She rounded a corner, _Just go away._

The girl then came to a sudden stop.

_Great,_ she thought as she surveyed the two way split in the corridor. She patted her pockets for the museum map she had had but found that she had lost it, possibly while she was banging to be let out of the store cupboard. _Where to now?_

_What's that?_

Her eyes had caught something on the wall between the split fluttering slightly in the draft from a slightly open window. She edged closer and noticed that it was a yellow post-it note stuck to the surface, and something was written on it in capital letters.

_**TAKE A LEFT**_

Jessica grabbed the note and unstuck it from the wall, examining it closer.

_What do you think?_ She thought, looking down the left corridor. _Shall I take a left?_

_Hey, when life gives you lemons…_

_I don't think this is the right context._

The girl sighed and tucked the note into her pocket.

"Might as well," she muttered, taking the left.

oOo

"Do you think you should have let her go like that?" asked Lancelot as he and the young king strode towards the Reading Room near the centre of the building in the Great Court, close to Egypt. It had been the knight's plan to stow away in there for the time being. The room was lockable from the inside and, if it came down to it, large enough to move if they were caught up in a fight. He had also pointed out that they might be able to find some forgotten Egyptian spell, somewhere in the room's extensive collection of books, that would help them in hiding the tablet.

The two reached the doors of the Reading Room.

"I don't know," Ahkmenrah answered, "But her will is her own. We can't force someone to accept what happens here. I'm surprised we haven't _already_ caused someone a mental breakdown,"

Lancelot shrugged, pushed the door open, and they both stepped inside.

The Reading Room was, quite frankly, enormous. The space was around 43m in diameter and reached to a height that rivalled its width. When Lancelot flicked on the low level lighting Ahkmenrah couldn't keep back an intake of breath. Seeing this room always put him in mind of his home in Egypt. Though based on a Roman design, the sheer expanse, the majesty of the domed roof and arched windows reminded him of the palace he had had back in Egypt. That palace, as the pharaoh had found out soon after his release in New York, was now buried in the desert, undetectable and unrecoverable. This room brought it all back to him. He had once owned a library of his own but here, instead of scrolls lining the walls, the Reading Room's sides were practically devoured by masses upon masses of shelf stacked books. Most of their leather coats worn and faded, but perfectly readable. The floor space was taken up by rows and rows of desks and lamps, perfect for a spot of light reading.

"Now then," Lancelot announced after locking the door behind them, "I'm thinking, invisibility spell,"

oOo

Jessica was beginning to think someone was pulling her leg when she still couldn't find her way to the entrance. She knew it for certain when she found herself entering large chamber with, what looked like, a smaller room built in the middle. Two staircases ran up either side of the smaller room's white outer walls.

"This is the Great Court," Jess said, indignantly. "Somebody's got me on a goose chase."

Someone suddenly grabbed her round the neck from behind and placed a hand on her spine. The girl felt the electricity jolt through her skin and crackle through her body, drilling into the very marrow of her bones. She let out a silent cry as the shock arched her body while her muscles seized up violently.

Jessica dropped to the floor in a shuddering heap, the only sounds she could hear were several pairs of feet hurrying toward the doors of the centre chamber. She found her breaths coming in short, painful gasps as her vision dimmed. The girl slipped into unconsciousness…

oOo

"Found anything Sire?" Lancelot asked, leafing through a book on Egyptian artefacts. They were stationed next to the book choked shelves amongst the closest to the door.

"Not yet," the Pharaoh replied, returning an Egyptologist's journal to its shelf. "Even if we were to miraculously find a spell to hide the tablet, we'd need to show the intruders that it isn't in the museum to convince them not to do anything rash to the place during the daylight,"

"Do you think they would?" asked the knight, looking over.

"I do," Ahkmenrah replied, picking up another book, "I've had dealings with these people before, or rather, I knew of them. Back in Egypt, they were more myth than anything to the common folk. We pharaohs knew of their existence though."

The knight stared at him in surprise.

"An ancient society eh?" he said, "Who are they?"

The young king flicked through the pages.

"A quick translation would be 'The Sons of Ma'at', Ma'at being the goddess of magic and the balancing of the universe. Back in my time, they were a group practiced in the ways of magic and claimed their job was to keep balance to the world. I had no idea they would still be going, after so long,"

Lancelot returned his own book and looked at the king quizzically.

"What do you suppose they want with the tablet?"

"Their business is magic," Ahkmenrah replied, "I suppose they may think of it as their property, or perhaps just want to use its powers for themselves,"

The knight nodded in agreement.

"I can see them wanting it for those reasons,"

"_You_ would," Ahkmenrah countered, raising an eyebrow. Lancelot frowned and prodded a finger toward him.

"Uncalled for," he said.

Their conversation was interrupted by a whirring sound coming from the entrance and a rabid cluster of muttering.

"They've found us," Ahkmenrah hissed, snatching up his tablet from the desk he'd left it on. Lancelot drew his word and slid toward the door.

"I'll fend them off when they come through," he whispered, flattening against the wall next to the entrance, "And you make a run for it,"

Ahkmenrah frowned, not liking the idea of leaving his friend behind like he had his parents earlier. No, he could not face doing that again.

"Why don't you take the tablet?" he suggested, "The intruders think that I am in possession of it so it makes sense if I stay to fight them instead,"

Lancelot glanced at him.

"On any other occasion, I would welcome you to stay and fight by my side." He said, assuredly, "But, unfortunately, on _this_ day we have the key to our existence on the line and, as far as I'm aware, you are not so practiced in swordsmanship as I. It would not do for you to distract them without a weapon,"

The young man bowed his head, acknowledging that it did indeed seem more logical.

The whirring from outside stopped.

"Here we go Sire," the knight muttered as the door opened.

oOo

Jess found herself waking up again a few moments after she had fallen unconscious. Her muscles still shuddered and she couldn't bring herself to move quite yet, but her head and sight were clear. The door to the middle room was in her line of vision, albeit a lopsided view. The four who had shoved her in the cupboard earlier, and no doubt the four who had just now attacked her, were surrounding the entrance. One was crouched down and appeared to be doing something with the lock.

The girl tried stirring her legs. They shifted slightly, still seized up by the electric shock, but Jess could feel the movement coming back to them. Them, and the rest of her body.

_They shocked me,_ he muttered in her mind, angrily. Her arms were beginning to budge now, silently lifting her torso from the floor. _Why am I awake? I shouldn't be awake right now._

_Never mind that, they attacked you._

_They ATTACKED me,_ she continued, now moving her legs to prop herself on all fours. She recalled the feeling of being trapped in the small dark confines of the storage space. The panic, the fear.

_They attacked me and LOCKED ME IN THAT CUPBOARD!_

_They're so dead!_

And, for once, both sides of her brain agreed on something. Those bastards were going to pay.

Jessica managed to stagger to her feet as the four in black finished with the lock and shoved the door open, letting themselves inside.

The girl narrowed her eyes and straightened, hearing her spine click as she did so. She shook her head to dispel a few lingering sparks in her vision and then focused on the door ahead of her.

_They're after the tablet, _she thought to herself, _Let's go take it from them._

_**Ok, this one was a long one folks. And seriously, a couple more chapters and we get to ….that bit in the summery I mentioned but won't spoil it for those who did not read it but are still wading through all this. :) I'm actually writing the next chapter now (it was meant to be part of this one but I thought it going a bit far if I made it even longer). Ok, so I hope you enjoyed and I'll c u soon.**_


	6. Chapter 5: Hiding Place

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my OC (and the general storyline from now on)**_

_**p.s. if you want reference for the first scene, search pictures of the British Museum Reading Room.**_

_**Ok, so last time, I had reviews from**_ _**DancingKitKat, M'andil D'andusm'aril Peredhel,**_ _**timeladyelf, keacdragon and guardian of art and bravery. They were amazing reviews so THANK YOU!**_

_**I now have 14 followers + 1 Author Follower YAAAAAAAAAY! **__I will sound completely insane to myself if I ever get something like 50 (guys, share for 50 )_

_**So anyway, thank you to:**_

_**True Essence**_

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_**ruler of the ice dragons**_

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_**And, to Sheyla Ryddle, timeladyelf, Stephanie Lou, guardian of art and bravery, spooky jaz, and ruler of the ice dragons, here *takes out HUGE pack of cupcakes of your chosen flavour* enjoy!**_

Chapter 5: Hiding Place

Now Jessica wasn't entirely sure of the details of her plan but her first thought was to head inside the middle chamber, give the four in black a beating and_ then_ head off looking for the pharaoh guy and his tablet. Granted, this was probably one of the stupidest plans (you know, next to attempted burglary) she'd ever come up with. But, in this instance, her need to cause bodily harm to the guys who'd electrocuted her kind of drowned out her common sense. A happy chance it was then that both the men she wanted to pummel _and_ the tablet happened to be in the same place at that moment.

The sight that greeted the girl as she stepped through the doors of, what she now realized was, the Reading Room surprised her. A few feet away from the entrance, three of the visored men were preoccupied by Lancelot's swordsmanship; their efforts focused on disarming the knight as he elegantly handled the blade. The three had produced weapons of their own from somewhere, rods made of some black metallic material, to fend off the man's sword strikes. Despite the three against one situation, the knight kept to it impressively, parrying the multiple weapons without letting one land on him. He ducked, dodged and struck at the men. For all his remarkable abilities, however, the agile three's main objective was not to take the man down, but to keep him occupied long enough for their fourth member to retrieve the tablet.

Looking about, Jess just about saw the fourth man's head and shoulders bobbing above the screened rows of desks, the crackling of his Taser could be heard throughout the room as he ran in pursuit of the young pharaoh who was sprinting to the other end of the vast chamber. The girl guessed that the two exhibits' initial plan had been for the knight to cover Ahkmenrah's exit. Evidently, that plan hadn't worked.

Deciding that Lancelot could hold his own for a while, Jessica sped off, in the hunt for the tablet and the man who'd tasered her.

She dodged passed the desks and chairs, trying to keep the fourth man and the constantly ducking pharaoh in her sight range. She could see that Ahkmenrah had reached the end of the room, and was now dashing around the circular book covered rim. He didn't get very far as the man in black cut him off. The pharaoh stumbled back the way he had come, wrapping the tablet protectively in a strip of golden fabric from his cloak and tying it securely around his chest, leaving both hands free. As she neared, Jessica wasn't entirely sure as to what his motivation for doing this was. That is until the ancient king leaped onto the end of a row of desks and clambered up to balance on the wooden screen that ran down the middle of them. After this feat of surprising agility, Ahkmenrah made another jump, this time from the end of the screen. As he sprang from the wooden perch, the young man stretched out his arms. He just caught the railing of the lowest of the landings that provided a partial first and second floor for the room. Gripping onto the metal firmly, tablet still tied to his chest, the pharaoh swung himself over the railing with a grunt. The man below, Taser in hand, quickly followed suit.

_What the-?_

The girl left on the ground floor stared up at the two, wondering how she could get up there herself. Her thoughts were interrupted as the visored man flung something at the pharaoh's legs. With a _thwack_ the thrown metal line hit the young king and he went down, ankles entangled.

Jessica scowled and put aside all thoughts of failure, choosing to take the same route as the other two. She reached the end of a desk and scaled it quickly, wobbling slightly as she clambered onto the wooden screen. The next jump would be the hardest part, what with the landing being a few feet in front of her and only just below her eye line. The nearest section of railing that could be grabbed was a couple of feet above the balcony floor.

_Ok girl, you can do this, _she thought, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet. With a slight run-up, she made the jump, using her legs to propel her upward and forward from the edge of the screen. Halfway across a panicked thought went through her mind.

_I'm not going to make it,_

And then,

_Yes you are! Arms out!_

The girl shot her hands out in front of her and felt them close around the metal rung of the railing. Her body slammed painfully into the side while her legs swung under the ledge, feet just brushing the bookshelves below. Despite having the wind knocked out of her, Jess managed to gain her feet some purchase on the edge of the balcony and haul herself up and over the railing. She collapsed onto the floor, the muscles in her arms burning from the extra effort that they were used to, and took a moment to rub her bruised ribs.

_Ugh, that hurt,_

The sounds of a scuffle snapped her attention back to the task at hand. A few feet away, Ahkmenrah was on his back, knees held up to his chest to keep the man in black from snatching the tablet. The assaulter in question was on top of the pharaoh, arm to his jewelled throat and gloved left hand crackling as he tried to grab him with it. His efforts were being met with adversity, however, as the young king had a firm grasp on his wrist, keeping the Taser glove from touching him.

Jessica clambered to her feet and scrambled over to the two. When she was only a foot or two behind the Taser guy, the girl grabbed him by the collar and, with a burst of surprising strength, dragged the man off the pharaoh. Surprised, the man in black spun, swinging his left hand round to catch whoever had wrenched him away with the Taser glove. Jess quickly caught him by the forearm, determined not to let this piece of goat crap electrocute her again. He'd done a sneaky back in the Great Court, but this time she had the upper hand. After grappling the Taser away from her body, she sent a fist into the man's stomach, doubling him over, leaving him poised perfectly for a knee to the head. The man stumbled backwards; his visor now had a long crack running down its dark surface.

_Let's see if we can't get that mask off,_ said the voice in her head, viciously.

She rushed at him again and aimed a punch at his throat, which he subsequently blocked with his right hand and made a swing at her with his left. She dodged the hand but only just, spinning away from the man in black as he overcame his initial surprise. From his belt, he retrieved a palm sized black cylinder. With a _click _it expanded into a metal baton, identical to those she had seen being used against Lancelot downstairs. The man swiftly brought the shaft round and struck her on the jaw, sending the girl colliding with the metal railing.

"Jessica?!" she heard Ahkmenrah call from somewhere behind her.

Her torso hanging over the bar, Jessica stared at the floor below her dazedly and brought a hand up to examine the side of her jaw where the rod had hit. It felt wet and sticky. She drew her hand away and inspected her fingers, their tips coated with red.

A growl escaped her throat and she spun, sending a kick into the oncoming man's ribcage. She did not let the man recover before flinging herself at him, grabbing his throat with one hand and punching him in the gut several times with the other. The adrenaline she felt course through the limbs was unbelievable. He tried once more to snag her with the Taser but, once again, she caught it and then shoved it into his own chest.

His black garments did not protect the man from the electricity that was sent through his body. As Jessica stepped away, his back arched sharply before he fell to the floor. With the last of his effort, he brought a hand up to his visor and tugged it off, revealing the face of a man in his late twenties. His skin was dark and his hair was the colour of pitch. The girl, her chest heaving as the adrenalin slowly left her, could just about see the marking on his neck, an Egyptian feather in a rectangle, before it was hidden when the man curled up and started shivering. The man made eye contact with her, gasped something in that unfamiliar language, and then it was made clear why the intruder had uncovered his face before he lost control of his movements. The assailant's chest constricted and puke was ejected onto the floor beside him.

"Ugh!" the girl exclaimed, backing up.

He vomited again.

Jess shuddered, repulsed, and turned away from the man in black.

_Well, we got the mask off,_

She started walking towards the pharaoh on the floor, his ankles still entangled, though it looked as though Ahkmenrah had already been working on them. Now, however, he was staring at her, eyes narrowed, jaw clenched, as though concentrating on a puzzle that he couldn't for the life of him solve.

"What?" she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.

The young pharaoh blinked and shook his head, clearing it.

"It's nothing," he said, turning his attention back to his bonds. He raised an eyebrow as he did so. "I thought you were going home,"

Jessica shrugged.

"I was," she said tersely, "But then the little shits went and electrocuted me and things got _really_ personal,"

Now free from the cord, Ahkmenrah stood up and looked to the man still shivering on the floor behind her.

"You recovered quickly from that I see," he said absently.

"S'pose he had it on a lower setting," the girl answered, turning and heading down the landing toward the exit door, paying no heed to the unconscious man, "Are you coming? There's more than one you know,"

"Jess," she heard him call from behind her. The girl looked over her shoulder. Ahkmenrah gestured to the man on the floor. "Thank you," he said, sincerely.

Jess gave a tight smile.

"Yeah well," she said, rotating slightly to face him, "I may be a selfish bugger but I had it in for that guy."

"I think your jaw has seen better days," he said, concern in his expression. Jessica covered the gash on her face with her sleeve, dabbing it lightly. It stung like hell but she'd lived through worse.

"It's fine," she muttered, wiping away the blood that dripped down her chin. She brought her hand away, shoved both in her pockets and nodded to the first floor door, "Now really, we've got to go, there are more of them downstairs,"

The pharaoh paled, remembering.

"Lancelot," he said, dashing to the railing to look for his friend. Jessica followed him.

They could see the Knight, still fighting by the doors. One of the men appeared to have been rendered unconscious; his body sprawled over a desk. The other two were still attacking the wax figure, determination now in their movements. It was clear that, after waiting so long for a signal from their fourth member, they realized that they needed to get this fight over with as soon as possible. Lancelot seemed much the same, possibly worried that his friend was in danger. However, from this distance, it was hard to say who was likely to win.

"Come on," the girl urged him, stepping away from the railing. Ahkmenrah looked at her, his expression showing his confliction.

"I can't just leave him," he said.

Despite her misgivings with the entire situation, Jessica couldn't help but feel just a pang of sympathy for the guy. It was either help his friend and risk their life force, or leave to save the tablet and risk Lancelot. It was a toughy.

She shook her head, dispelling the thoughts of understanding from her head.

_We don't have time for this,_ her head grumbled.

The girl scowled, grabbed the pharaoh's shoulder and shoved him round to face her.

"Ok, King …whatever your name is," she said, forcefully, "You don't just have the fate of one wax statue in your hands here. If that thing does what you say it does…" she gestured toward the tablet still strapped to his chest. He gripped it protectively. "…then it being nicked means that _everybody_ here will end up dead."

Ahkmenrah clenched his jaw and looked to Lancelot again, who was still holding his ground. Jessica continued.

"Now your mate down there looks like he can take care of himself but, right now, _your_ job is to make sure those guys don't get what they came here for,"

"And _you_ suddenly care?" he said softly, training his eyes on the knight. "What happened to 'I can't deal with this crap'?"

"As I said, things got personal," she muttered. The pharaoh wouldn't look at her. She sighed and glanced at the fight herself. And then…"Would Lancelot want you to help?"

Ahkmenrah closed his eyes and remained still for a few seconds. The pharaoh whispered something in, what she assumed was, Egyptian and then backed away slowly from the landing's edge.

"Fine," he said quietly, "But we need somewhere _to_ go. I can't hide the tablet in the building because they will find it during the day. It would be a simple matter for them,"

Jessica frowned thoughtfully, letting air out through her nose. She chewed her cheek, thinking, really trying to come up with any other idea than the one that came to her instantly. After a few seconds, she conceded to herself that they didn't really have many other options available to them.

_I am going to hate myself for this,_

"I have a suggestion," she addressed the young pharaoh, who looked at her with a furrowed brow. She quickly added, "It won't be for long, mind you. Just as a temporary measure, long enough for you to make other arrangements and to get well away from these nut jobs,"

The pharaoh raised an eyebrow.

"Where do you have in mind?"

oOo

"Are you sure about this?" Ahkmenrah called down the stairs to the girl just ahead of him. "I thought you'd want nothing more to do with all this,"

They reached the bottom and dashed across the Great Court. Jessica slowed a little to fall into step with the Egyptian king.

"As I said," she said, "It'll just be a temporary thing to get you under these guys' radar. As soon as we get in, you're going to work out what to do with that thing."

They strode through the halls, Ahkmenrah leading this time as the girl had already proved her terrible sense of direction. He, once again, held the magical artefact without the use of his makeshift harness, having untied it from his chest as they left the Reading Room.

"You really don't want them getting the tablet do you?"

"Entirely selfish reasons, I assure you," she said bluntly, "I just don't like the idea of the guys who attacked me getting what they want. I can be petty that way,"

He had to admit, her motives confused him. He may not remember much of the young teenager who had once visited the Museum of Natural History three years ago, but neither did he remember this ….prickliness to her. It was as though she simply did not want to be around _anyone_. For some reason, in the back of the pharaoh's mind, he had a happier picture painted of her, which was a little odd considering he had known her for maybe half an hour before.

He did not dwell on this, however, as his thoughts were interrupted by the sight of one of Lancelot's hunting parties rounding the corner ahead of them.

"Robert!" he called out to the man in Tudor clothes leading the band of wax figures. Jessica backed up against the wall uncomfortably, still clearly unnerved with the situation, as the 16th century man held up a hand in greeting to the king as they marched toward them.

"Sire,"

"The Reading Room," Ahkmenrah told the group as he passed them. "They're in the Reading Room. Lancelot's holding them off but I think he'd appreciate some help,"

The figures nodded and, without another word, strode purposefully in the direction of the Great Court.

"Good call," Jess said as she stepped away from the wall. They continued towards the main entrance.

"I just hope they won't be too late," the pharaoh replied, frowning.

"Right, I won't be having your moping in the same cab as me," the girl reproached, "So pull yourself together and just keep in mind that you made the right choice because I will _not _be reminding you every five minutes,"

"I think I preferred you three years ago," the young king murmured.

"Yeah, well," Jessica replied, picking up on the comment, "I'm not fifteen anymore,"

The two reached the entrance where 'The Discus Thrower' was sitting by the door, fiddling with his discus and looking extremely bored. He looked up as the two approached and gave them a small wave.

"Hello Discus," Ahkmenrah greeted as he grasped the door handle and pushed it open. Discus said something in Greek which, he assumed, must have been a hello in return. The pharaoh thought to himself that he really should get around to learning the language as it was the first tongue of about a fifth of the museum's residence. Three years and he hadn't yet studied it, he was appalled.

"Come on," the girl pressed as they stepped out into the cold night air. "We need to hail a cab,"

"Right," he said as they began crossing the courtyard to the main gates. His attention then veered to the right as he spotted someone running across the yard towards them. He squinted and made out the figure of the museum's night guard hobbling over, red faced and out of breath. When she was just a few feet away, the woman slowed and bent over, heaving in air as though she'd exerted herself a little too much.

"Tilly?" the pharaoh exclaimed, wondering where she had been all night.

"Ahk! *_puff_*" she said, looking up at him and squinting in confusion as she noticed his crownless head. "You have hair?"

The very notion seemed to shock her.

Ahkmenrah blinked.

"What did you think was under the crown Tilly?"

"I dunno," the woman straightened and shrugged heavily, "s'pose I always thought you were bald and just didn't like talkin' about it,"

The pharaoh glanced at the girl next to him who was trying to hide a small smile. He glared and looked back to Tilly again.

"Where have you been?" he asked.

She jabbed a thumb in the direction of the security shack.

"Bunch of ninja blokes jumped me," she said, sounding a little too excited but still slightly out of breath, "Actual Ninjas! I just woke up inside the booth,"

"Are you alright?"

She waved a hand.

"Nah, I'm fine." She only then noticed Jessica standing by the young pharaoh. "Who'er you?"

"_I'm_ in a hurry," the girl answered with a wave. She glanced at Ahkmenrah and thumped him on the shoulder, urging. "Seriously, time to go King Tut,"

The pharaoh sighed and addressed the night guard.

"Look, Tilly, I need you to go inside and find Lancelot. He's in the Reading Room fighting the people who attacked you. Tell him that I've gone with Jess," He gestured to the girl, "to hide the tablet away from the museum."

"Why, what's goin' on with the tablet?" Tilly asked, confusion consuming her face.

Ahkmenrah shook his head and backed up toward the gate.

"Lancelot will explain," he assured, "Just go in and tell him,"

"Right," the woman called as the two reached the gates and turned to open them, "But, when are you comin' back cus I'm not sure my boss would like that his mummy's gone walkabout,"

"Honestly?" the pharaoh answered, spinning his head to face her, "I have no idea,"

And they were out, hurrying across the tarmac of the pavement to the nearest taxi rank. Jessica waved in one cab's wing-mirror, catching the driver's attention. The man inside rolled down the passenger window and reached across the seat to look at the odd pair.

"Where to?" he asked, part of his brain wondering if the peculiarly dressed young man would turn out to be a psychopath. He almost hoped he was. It would be the most excitement he'd had in a while.

* * *

Jessica's apartment block really wasn't much to look at. The building had been built in the more unsavoury territory of London, the streets being narrow and dark, while half the windows were partially boarded up due to broken panes. Something about the area made the young king grip his tablet a little tighter. Inside the apartment building wasn't much better, with the wall's paint peeling while the air stank of …ugh, the pharaoh had no idea what. As the two traversed the stairs to the top floor, Ahkmenrah observed the silence, unnerved.

"Why is everything so quiet?" he asked, a couple of steps behind the girl as they exited the stairwell, entering a narrow corridor lined with doors.

Jess shrugged.

"Not many people live in this building. Those who do are on the lower floors,"

"Why are you the exception?" the pharaoh enquired as they stopped outside door _E 10. _The girl took a key from her pocket and slipped it into the lock.

"I like my privacy," she said, unlocking the flat.

The apartment's interior wasn't as bad as the rest of the building's appearance. For one, Ahkmenrah noticed, its smell was a considerable improvement to the camel dung corridor odour. There were no empty food packets or dirty dishes lying around either, as the pharaoh had expected after seeing several American movies about people living in similar conditions.

One quality, however, really caught his attention.

"This place is _tiny_," he said, stepping further into the two metre length living room and shutting the door behind him. Jessica scowled.

"I'm barely eighteen with a part time job as a shelf-stacker," she said flatly, grabbing the band that held her hair and pulled it out. The nut brown tresses fell passed her shoulder, her disobedient fringe now hidden amongst the hair. "What do you think I could afford?"

"My apologies," Ahkmenrah said, bowing his head. "It's good of you to let me stay here. I am wrong to insult your home,"

The girl sighed, brushed her hair over one shoulder and headed to the even smaller kitchen.

"Well, you'd better get someone who can walk about in daylight other than me," she said, grabbing a tub of hot chocolate from the cupboard above her kettle. "No offense, I'm sure you're a perfectly nice person, but I want you off my hands as soon as possible,"

"Well, I am most certainly feeling the love," he said, setting the tablet down on the single moth-eaten armchair set against the wall. There were only three doors leading out of the small space. One was the door to the outside corridor while, Ahkmenrah assumed, the other two led to the bedroom and the washroom. Jessica's kitchen had no door, being more of an extension than anything. There wasn't much furniture in the lounge. A very small TV sat, dusty on a small table in one corner, a coffee table set in front of the chair took up a quarter of the floor space, and a couple of bookshelves were hanging from the walls. Each shelf was choked up with well-worn fantasy novels. After a couple of seconds, the girl appeared at the entrance to the living room, her expression less confrontational, now more weary than anything.

"Look," she said, arms folded and leaning against the empty doorframe while waiting for the kettle to boil. Her soft tone surprised Ahkmenrah, given that she'd spent the last hour or so in a mood foul enough to sour milk. Perhaps she was just tired. She continued, "I just want things to go back to normal for me,"

The young king nodded.

"I understand," he said.

Jessica cast her eyes down to the floor.

"I should find all this amazing; I know," she said, "Amazing and exciting," she shifted uncomfortably, "That's how I would have been as a little kid, you know? But this…this is just too…well…_real_,"

"I shall be gone as soon as I am able," the pharaoh assured her, "You have my word Jessica,"

"Hmm," the girl gave a tired smile and turned back to the kitchen, "Do you want some hot chocolate or something?"

"I'm fine," Ahkmenrah replied, perching upon the edge of the armchair beside his tablet. "Thank you,"

"So, who are you going to ask to take you in?" the girl asked from her kettle. "What about that security guard from the museum?"

"Tilly? No, she's too involved with the museum. Her home would be one of the first places they'd think of first,"

The sounds of a clinking teaspoon floated out of the kitchen.

"Do you think these guys would do anything if they found out the tablet isn't with her?" Jessica asked, tapping the spoon on the side of her mug to dislodge the access chocolate.

"If their ways haven't changed since my time, then I shouldn't think so,"

"Your time?" The girl stood against the doorframe again, this time cupping a steaming mug between her hands. "Those people have been around for a while then? Who are they?"

Ahkmenrah stared at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you're right. Don't tell me,"

She took a sip.

Ahkmenrah shifted the tablet from behind him, rested it between his fingers upon his lap, and stared at it. Who could he ask for help from? Who would be 'under the radar' so to speak? His obvious choice would be Larry, if the man didn't have a full time teaching job to keep him busy. It would be selfish of him to ask for the former night guard's help, especially after he had already assisted him and his family in so many ways already. And yet, what other options were left to him? Nick could be a possibility, if he had the boy's mobile number. Even Dr McPhee could be a probability. Alright, maybe not Dr McPhee. The poor man had only just gotten used to the fact that everything in his museum used to come to life, plus, with him also being too closely connected to both museums, he would also appear somewhere on the Sons of Ma'at's 'to inspect' list. Ahkmenrah sighed, beginning to wonder if the magical tablet was really worth all the trouble it had caused people over the past few years. He would have to call Larry.

"Jessica?" he said, glancing up at her. She looked at him, questioningly. "Could I use a phone?"

"Thought of who to call?" she asked, passing the mug to her right hand to fish her old mobile out of her jeans pocket with the other.

The pharaoh's brow furrowed.

"The only person I _can_ call," he muttered. Jessica came up to him and passed him the phone.

"Knock yourself out," she murmured.

* * *

_New York City,_

Larry Daley was bored. Not just bored though. Larry was _exceptionally_ bored.

It was a Friday evening and he was sitting at his desk, grading the history papers of 8th graders, despairing at Aiden Ockery's attempts in exploring the ways in which the ancient Romans promoted social hygiene.

"'bathing in a public water fountain'? What are you playing at Aiden?" he muttered, giving the paper a resounding D-.

The former night guard put down his pen and stretched in his chair. He glanced out of the classroom window, gazing at the dark skyline where the sun had so recently set, thinking to himself where he would have been three years previously. Most likely playing tug-of-war with a dead tyrannosaurus.

_Good times,_ he thought to himself.

It wasn't as though he didn't enjoy his job. All that crap that people give you about how rewarding teaching is?...All true. Larry couldn't help but like what he did now. It was just times like this, when the evening was so silent that the man really wouldn't have minded a visit from a couple of wax figures …or even the monkey. Yeah, he missed that. Still, it'll be the Christmas break starting Monday so he'd have a good two weeks to spend with Nicky before the kid scarpered back to college for the next few months. Things weren't all bad.

He was just about to pick up his pen again when the phone in his pocket started buzzing. The man frowned and fished it out, checking the caller. Unknown number.

His frown deepened and he answered it.

"If this is about windows, I'm not interested," he said down the line.

"_Larry? It's me,_"

Larry blinked.

"Wait, Ahk?" he said, sitting forward to lean on the desk in front of him. "What…where are you calling from? Whose number's this?"

"_That's not important at the moment Larry,_" the pharaoh said, his grave tone unnerving the former night guard. "_Something's happened,_" he continued,"_I need your help._"

* * *

"He said he'll do it," Ahkmenrah said, hanging up and snapping the phone shut.

Jessica pulled out of her own thoughts, blinking at the pharaoh with tired eyes.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"Larry," he said, resting the tablet next to the chair before he stood up and handed the mobile back to her. "He's taking the next plane he can get to London,"

The girl nodded and dropped the phone next to the TV, while sipping the last dregs of her chocolate from the mug.

"What time should he get here for?" she asked, heading back into the kitchen to wash the empty cup. The pharaoh followed her.

"He says the last flight to London is in an hour, so he should land before sunrise," he said.

"Good, I was worried I may have to keep a shrivelled up dead guy in my bathtub for the day,"

"Hilarious," Ahkmenrah muttered, brow furrowing.

"Oh, come on. I'm only kidding," she said, placing the mug onto the dish rack and drying her hands on a tea-towel.

"Right,"

"Course I am," she continued, now squeezing passed the young king to get through to the living room. "I've only got a shower,"

She looked round to see the pharaoh's shoulders stiffen before he turned away from the empty kitchen. Guilt panged at her stomach as she took in the stormy expression on a face that wouldn't look at her. Her shame was cut short, however, as a wave of exhaustion overtook her body. Wow, she was shattered. She supposed taking down a guy with a metal stick who's a decade older could do that to a person.

"Ok," she mumbled, rubbing a hand over her tired eyes, "I'm going to bed,"

Ahkmenrah nodded stiffly.

"Sleep well," he murmured.

"Thanks," she said, heading to her bedroom door. Before she opened it, Jessica turned her head to look at the pharaoh still stood in her kitchen doorway. "If your friend comes and I'm still asleep, could you not wake me up? Let this at least _look_ like a dream,"

The young king looked at her and gave a small smile.

"As you wish," he said.

Jessica smiled back and opened the door. She stepped in and closed it behind her, blocking the young man from view. The girl stood for a moment, back against the door with a hand in her hair, massaging her head.

"Load of shit," she muttered, flicking the dim light on before heading to the wardrobe and pulling off her clothes. She replaced them with a pair of blue pyjama bottoms and a grey shirt and then dragged her tired self to the half body mirror hanging on the wall opposite to a small single bed. The girl stared at her reflection, taking in the pale face and nasty gash still left on her cheek. She could tell that a bruise was definitely going to appear at some point.

_Arsehole's, _she thought to herself, touching the wound lightly and wincing as her fingers sent spikes of throbbing pain down her nerve endings.

She drew her hand away and focused on her eyes. What was going on in there, she wondered as she stared underneath the brown irises.

_Living statues, _the words drifted through her mind, _talking wax, dead dinosaur, Tasers, Lancelot, magic tablet…_

She glanced at her bedroom door.

_Ancient pharaoh,_

She clenched a hand to her chest and stared off to one side. The line came to her, a short one, uttered once by Alice in a book that occupied one of her shelves in the lounge.

_Have I gone mad?_

_No,_ the other side of her head answered, _you are not strange, wired off, nor crazy, your reality is just different from others._

The girl gave a small chuckle as she heard the usually so negative side of her brain lob Lewis Carroll quotes at her.

_Since when did you become Mr Positive?_

_You're not mad._

_Tell that to the mummy in my living room._

_You're not mad._

_I'm having a mental argument with myself…_

_You're not mad._

_I snuck __**into a museum.**_

_You. Are. Not. Mad._

The girl scrunched her eyes shut and brought her hands to grasp her head. The events of the evening coming at her in waves, unrelenting.

"How can I not be?" she whispered, her voice choking up.

_You've never been mad._

"Shut up," Jessica snapped, whipping her gaze back to the mirror. The girl glaring back at her looked positively feral; her eyes dark and intense, her glowering look….insane.

She brought a hand to her mouth, stumbled back and fell onto the end of her bed. Her shoulders shook and heavy sobs began to rack her body. The hand covering her mouth kept the sobs from escaping the small bedroom, but to her, they rushed through her ears loudly and forced fat tears to run down her cheeks.

Later, when she had settled into a lying position, clutching a small yellow teddy bear the girl curled up and she cried.

_**Ok, this turned into an even longer chapter so I split it into two and have decided to post both at the same time. (Please leave a review for this one as well though) Hope you enjoyed that one, and I hope you like the next.**_


	7. Chapter 6: too long, read top of page

_**Declaimer: I don't own anything but the plot and my OC**_

_**Ok, I listed everybody last time so, as this is technically being posted in the form of one massive chapter, nothing's changed.**_

Chapter 6: Several Seriously Terrifying Experiences

Ahkmenrah paced the small living room fitfully and dwelled on the events of the past few hours. Had the four been incapacitated? Was Lancelot alright? Were his parents safe? Had anybody been injured?

He didn't know.

The pharaoh _hated _not knowing.

And he couldn't help them. He couldn't help anybody. What kind of a ruler was he? And if this is how he is now, then what kind of a ruler _had_ he been, back when he lived in the sun? He sighed and dropped into the armchair. Jessica had gone to sleep, a while ago if the heavy breathing he'd heard just outside the door was anything to go by. Something about her pestered Ahkmenrah. Before, he'd put it down to having already met her, three years ago at the Museum of Natural History, but now? No, there was something else.

The pharaoh rubbed his forehead irritably. Leaning back, flopping both arms to the armrests, he stared at the wall opposite him. He found himself studying the titles residing the bookshelves.

_Fantasy,_ he observed, _I never would have guessed._

Ahkmenrah got out of the chair and stood in front of the array of reading materiel. He lightly ran a hand across the creased spines of the books before pulling one out of its place on the shelf.

_I have a few hours to me,_ he thought, settling himself back into the chair and flipping open a well-worn copy of '_Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_'.

"_Chapter 1: Down the Rabbit Hole…_"

oOo

Jessica woke to the sight of her dimly lit room. It took a moment for her to remember what had happened but, once she did, she immediately covered her head with her pillow, willing herself to go back to sleep. It was still dark outside, the sun not having come up yet. Wouldn't be long now though, she suspected.

The girl focused her ears on her bedroom door, listening out for any hint of movement. There was silence. Perhaps that friend of Tut's had come to get him.

_Perhaps_, she thought hopefully, _everything had been a dream._

She pushed the pillow off her head and sat up groggily, her hair having seen better days. Blinking, the girl swung her feet off the bed and stood up shakily. As she stretched, her spines cracked and she winced.

_Must have slept in an awkward position,_

She then walked over to the mirror and examined her face, looking for the gash she had received earlier. Hope ignited in her heart when she couldn't quite see where the man in black had hit her, but then that sinking feeling engulfed her. The wound was still there, albeit much more unnoticeable than it should have been. What was going on?

Jessica looked at it more closely and saw that the bleeding had completely stopped, the skin had mostly knitted together and now there was just a red line running down her jaw bone.

_Did I sleep to next month?_ She wondered, running a finger down the half healed gash. No bruise had shown up either.

The girl frowned and stepped away from the mirror.

"Ugh, stop worrying about this stuff," she said to herself, shaking her head.

_Now let's go see if our guest has gone._

She headed to the door and opened it. Sticking her head out, she saw that the room was empty. Maybe he was gone already. She checked her watch. Very close to sunrise so it was possible. And then she looked to the armchair, where there glinted the magical tablet that everyone was after. Well, he wouldn't have left it if he was going anywhere, so where did he vanish to?

"Hey!" she called, striding over to the bathroom door, "Hey, King Tut. You there?"

The girl opened the door and peeked inside. There was no one in there.

"What the hell?" she murmured, pulling back from the bathroom. Surveying the small apartment again, she wondered where the pharaoh could have gotten to.

_Unless…_ A thought struck her. _Could the guys in black have found him?_

_No, they're after the tablet and that's still here._

She was about to take a quick scan outside for the missing pharaoh but then she heard the voices on her floor of the building, a cluster of mumbling that drifted down the corridor and through her door.

_Why are people here? There shouldn't be people up here._

Footsteps could now be heard coming towards her flat. A moment of panic seized her.

_Could it be them?_

Without a second thought, she grabbed the tablet for the chair and dashed into the kitchen. There, she wrenched open a draw and took out something she had thought to acquire upon moving into one of the more distasteful parts of the city.

_At least the door's locked,_

She looked to the door and saw that no, it wasn't. The entrance had been left open ajar. Had she done that? No, it had been the mummy who'd shut it last night.

_I'm going to rip out his organs all over again,_ she thought, moving to close the door. It was too late, however, as one of the people who'd been approaching her apartment gently pushed it open and stepped in.

"Move, and I will shoot you in the face!" Jessica yelled as she stumbled back from the door.

"Woah!" Exclaimed the man, his hands darting into the air in a gesture of surrender as he stared at the handgun the crazy pyjama girl had trained on him. "Don't shoot! Definitely _not_ in need of shooting!"

Jessica studied him. He was quite short, she noticed, and didn't _look_ like one of the guys in black. He wasn't wearing black, for one thing, and he didn't have a tattoo either.

Someone else had come in as well. A younger guy with messy brown hair and a considerably freckled face. He was looking at the gun in her hands with the same '_Oh, shit,_'expression that the first man had on.

"Who are you?" Jess demanded, training the weapon on both in turn and holding the tablet out of reach. "I have had _such_ a bad night so hurry up and tell me what you're doing here!"

"Ok, before we answer," the man asked, his voice faltering, "could you please put the gun down? Look, no weapons…"

He spun on the spot slowly, as did the other one.

_American_, the girl observed, noting his accent. She looked closer at the man's features, the thin, slightly alarmed, face and his short dark hair. Then she suddenly recognised him.

"Hey," she said, lowering the gun slightly, "You're that night guard from New York,"

"Yeah," he said, nodding his head eagerly, "Yeah, New York…..Wait, you know me from New York?"

Jessica ignored the question and frowned.

"What are you doing here?" As if on cue, Ahkmenrah entered the room from the hallway. The girl raised her eyebrows in realization. "Oh,"

The young pharaoh froze when he noticed the scene that had unfolded in his absence; the two men raising their arms while the girl in her pyjamas brandished a gun and held the tablet away from the two, protectively.

"Jess?" he asked, slowly, "Where did you get the firearm?"

"Your friends?" she asked, nodding to the startled pair and ignoring the initial query.

"Yes, this is Larry, Guardian of-" he was interrupted by the '_not really the time_' shake of the head he received from the older man. The pharaoh grumbled a little. "And his son, Nick," he finished.

"Hi," said the younger man, Nick. "Please don't kill us,"

Jessica smirked.

"Oh, relax," she said, showing them the gun. "It's a duff. It isn't that easy getting _real_ guns here in England."

She threw the useless prop over her shoulder, letting it clatter to the kitchen floor behind her.

The two Americans breathed a sigh of relief, dropping their hands to their sides.

The girl gave an amused smile and passed the tablet to Ahkmenrah, who was standing awkwardly in the doorframe.

"Thank you," he said, taking it from her.

"Could I ask why you didn't just leave with the tablet like I asked you to?" she enquired.

"Well, Larry called again, asking which building I was in," Ahkmenrah answered, "And so, I went outside to direct them. I did not take the tablet for fear that something might have happened in my waiting,"

Jess raised an eyebrow.

"And you brought your little posse up to my flat because….?"

"Honestly, when I told them what had happened, they wanted to see if _you _were alright,"

Larry chipped in.

"We weren't going to wake you if you were asleep," he assured. "Just, on the off chance that you _were_ awake, we wanted to thank you. We're all very grateful to you for all your help,"

The girl blinked.

"Riiiiight?"

"And we did not expect the gun," added Nick.

"Yeah," She glanced behind her, guiltily, "Sorry about that,"

"There was another reason," Larry gave a half smile. "I've been in your position before. I know that all of this seems….crazy,"

"Hm, No kidding," she replied, ruffling her hair. "But really, I don't need to talk about any of this. I'll be happy when you all leave,"

Both looked a little offended at that.

"She doesn't mean it personally," Ahkmenrah assured them. The girl rolled her eyes. "And she's right, we _should_ go now. It must be nearly sunrise,"

Larry quickly peeked at his watch.

"Oooh, yeah, we should go," He shuffled out of the door, glancing over his shoulder. "Thanks again…Jess?" She nodded. "Right…come on Nicky,"

Nicky smiled at Jess and gave an awkward little wave.

"Nice meeting you," he said, backing out of the door.

"You too," the girl said, waving back.

The only one left in the room now was the pharaoh, tablet in hand and propping the door open. He looked at Jess and bowed his head.

"It has been a pleasure," he said with a small smile.

"Ok, quit the fibs and move," she replied, making shooing motions with her hands, "Not the best idea to still be here when the sun comes up,"

He lifted a finger and wagged it in agreement.

"Excellent point. I shall take my leave," he said, quickly. The three stepped away from the small flat's front door and started down the corridor.

Jessica didn't watch them go. She just closed the door and headed back to bed.

oOo

"So, where to?" the young king asked as Larry drove them away from the estate.

"Right now," Larry replied, taking a left into a main road, "We need to get to a hotel and let you do your day thing,"

"We have like, twenty minutes to do that Dad," Nicky told him. "Better hurry,"

oOo

The rest of Jessica's morning was fairly uneventful. She woke up again, well passed sunrise, got dressed into her work shirt and took a bus to her job. Her time went by at a snail's pace, the constant _beep_s of the checkouts grated at her tired brain cells. The lack of sleep she'd had took its toll on her. After three hours of continuous shelf stacking and an unwanted two hours as a substitute cashier, the girl was exhausted, ready to go home and fall into a coma. Perhaps she could have another crack at forgetting the previous night. She suspected that, one day, she would actually believe it had all been a dream.

Later in the afternoon, after her hours were done, she found herself sluggishly shunting open her front door. The girl dropped her keys on the TV's table and, with a groan, dragged herself into her bedroom to change out of her work clothes. After replacing her attire with a red flannel shirt and the usual blue jeans and trainers, she headed back into her living room and fell into the armchair, humming to herself softly as she stretched out and rested her feet on the table. Crossing her arms behind her head, she leant back and closed her eyes. It was then that she shifted her feet slightly and felt them knock against something on the table. Jessica ceased her hummed rendition of some theme from 'Gladiator', frowned and opened her eyes. Sitting up, the girl noticed the book left open on the chipped woodwork. She reached forward, and picked it up.

_Looks like our friend from last night kept himself entertained,_ she noted as she examined the cover of '_Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_'. It looked as though the pharaoh had nearly finished the book when his friends had arrived.

"'_What are they doing?' Alice whispered to the Gryphon. 'They can't have anything to put down yet, before the trial's begun._'

Jessica's eyes read the page the book was left open on.

"'_They're putting down their names,' the Gryphon whispered in reply, `for fear they should forget them before the end of the trial._'"

The girl smiled and ran the tips of her fingers down the page, reminiscently.

"_`Stupid things!' Alice began-_"

The book's influence was suddenly broken by a slight rasping sound coming from the front door. Jessica's attention came away from the novel in her hands and focused on the crack between door and floor, where someone from outside was pushing a scrap of paper into her flat.

_What the Dickens-?_

Jess snapped the book shut, dropped it onto the table and pushed herself out of the chair. She knelt and picked up the sheet of lined paper that had been slid under her door. Scanning the sheet, the girl could make neither head nor tail of it. She only knew that the markings written there were Egyptian, ancient hieroglyphs to be a teeny bit more precise. At the bottom of the page, was a tiny arrow, indicating for her to turn it over.

She did so and saw two words in English, written in the same full caps hand writing that had been on the post-it note at the museum. The girl frowned.

_**GET OUT!**_

,it read.

_Right, who the hell is this joker?_ She griped internally, straightening up before wrenching the door open. Standing in the hall, the girl could hear hurried footsteps descending the stairs and she darted off in pursuit. Jessica took two steps at a time, coming very close to tripping and breaking her neck on three counts. Looking over the rail at the floors below, she could just see the grey hood that covered the identity of the mystery messenger a couple of flights down. When the stranger got to the last flight, he (or she) grabbed the railing and swung themselves over the metal bars. (S)He landed on the ground floor, unperturbed, and set off running again. The girl thought about following the messenger's example when approaching that last flight, but thought better of it as she noticed the three metre drop. When she reached the ground floor, Jess propelled herself toward the building's entrance. She burst through the doors and felt the cold winter air prickle at her skin as she skidded to a halt in the centre of the road. The girl turned, darting her head from one end of the road to another, hoping to get a glimpse of where the mysterious visitor had buggered off to. But the stranger was gone and the street was silent….

That is, until the explosion went off on the top floor of her building with a deafening _BOOM! _Followed by a _ROAR!_ as the windows were blown out and glass was showered upon the road below.

oOo

The four thousand year old pharaoh woke to the sounds of yelling. He was lying comfortably on a double bed in one of the adjoining two rooms the three had booked into that morning, with a very tight few minutes to spare before he had done, as Larry so poetically put it, "his day thing." Ahkmenrah had to admit, it was an extremely nice change to wake up in comfy bed without the suffocating walls and lid of his sarcophagus back at the museum. He didn't have to worry about the casket being locked, or about hitting his head, as he did so embarrassingly frequently. Despite his much improved surroundings, however, he did _not_ appreciate the ruckus going on in the attached room. The raised voices drifted through the wood of the door and thin walls. The pharaoh rubbed his eyes, groggily, with the palm of his hand as he tried to discern separate words in the argument outside, the first sentence being,

"- I AM GOING TO RIP THOSE JEWELS OFF HIM AND RAM THEM DOWN HIS SORRY DEAD THROAT!"

Ahkmenrah frowned. He knew that voice.

"AND THEN I'LL TAKE THAT MAGICAL MANTEL ONAMENT OF HIS, DECAPITATE HIM WITH AT AND SHOVE IT DOWN HIS NECK TO JOIN THE NECKLACE!"

The young kind sat bolt upright in the bed.

_Jessica?_

In the other room, he could hear Nick just outside his door, doubtless keeping her from entering. It sounded like his dad was having his own troubles, restraining the girl from killing his son in the process.

"Seriously!" the younger New Yorker said. "I don't think you want to go in! He's probably all mummified and gross in there!"

"FIRST OFF, IT'S AFTER SUNSET, IDIOT! GET OFF ME!" Ahkmenrah heard Larry make a pained grunting sound as, undoubtedly, a punch found its mark. Something smashed and Ahkmenrah winced. The girl continued shrieking at the door, still unable to struggle out of the man's grasp, "AND EVEN IF IT WEREN'T, IT WOULD MAKE IT A LOT EASIER FOR ME TO _RIP OFF HIS LIMBS AND USE THEM AS KINDLING!"_

"Ahk!" Nick called, nervously. "Crazy girl, here to see you!"

"OH, YOU WOULD BE TOO IF _**YOUR**_ HOME GOT A BOMB PLANTED IN IT! _AHKMENRAH, GET YOUR PATHETIC ARSE OUT HERE BEFORE I MAKE YOU WISH THAT TABLET HAD NEVER BROUGHT YOU BACK TO LIFE_!"

_A bomb? What in the world happened?_ The pharaoh thought, hurriedly rolling off the bed. He set his sandaled feet on the hard wooden floor and strode to open the door. Then, _and __**now**__ she gets my name right._

"Alright!" he called, "I'm coming out, but I'd appreciate it if you would not break anything else!"

"Oh, don't test me pharaoh!" she snarled.

He sighed, concluding that that was the best he was going to get, and turned the handle. The sight that lay before him as he stepped into the room was that of Larry holding Jessica back from the door as she wrenched and struggled to get him away from her, while Nicky was standing off to the side, having left the door for Ahkmenrah to come through. On the floor, near the kettle, a porcelain mug lay, smashed. When she saw the pharaoh, Jessica stopped resisting the former night guard and stood there, chest heaving heavily as her murderous eyes bored into his own. Her hair hung in messy locks passed her shoulders and her face was littered with additional nicks and scratches. Something about her stance dislodged a niggling feeling from the depths of his mind, prodding at him like a fishing spear. It was the barest flutter of…..was it a memory?

"Now, Jessica," he said, steadily, holding his hands before him as a gentle gesture for her to calm down. "Tell us. What has happened?"

"What's happened?" she said, incredulously, "What's happened? What's happened is, your buddies from the ancient society of black clad jerks BLEW UP MY FLAT!"

"They….what?"

"You heard me!" Jessica forcefully shrugged off the hands Larry had been gripping her shoulders with. "While I was at work, planted a bomb. Blew it up. _Ka-boom,_"

She made an exploding hand gesture.

Ahkmenrah felt a sickening snake force its way down his throat and curl in his chest.

_Oh Gods,_ he thought.

"Jess," he said hopelessly, "I don't know what to say,"

"Really?" she squared her jaw. "I'll tell you what you _did_ say." She marched up to him. Larry and Nicky went to stop her but they were waved off by the pharaoh. The girl before him gave a hard prod to the bejewelled collar covering his chest as she spoke. "_You_ said they wouldn't do anything if the tablet wasn't there."

"Jessica, I-I didn't know. I-"

"And thanks to you and that golden piece of garbage, _I am now __**homeless**_,"

"Hey," Nicky intervened, "Hey, It wasn't Ahk's fault,"

"Yeah," Larry continued, "None of this is. Really, we're sorry about what's happened but if you want to go screaming at the people actually responsible for it, look for the guys who planted the bomb,"

"Larry, Nick," Ahkmenrah gestured for them to stop. "There is no need-"

"Just, everybody shut it!" Jess snapped. She clenched her fists and sharply turned away from them all. The girl kept her head bent to the floor, her shoulders tensed and their blades protruding underneath the flannel shirt.

Ahkmenrah glanced at the two standing awkwardly in the room. They were at a loss. The pharaoh mouthed to them,

_How did she know we were here?_

Larry made a gesture with his hand, making it resemble a phone, and put it to his ear.

_Called us,_ he replied.

The pharaoh heard her take in a deep, shuddering breath and he concentrated on her.

A few moments of silence went by, and then she spoke.

"Time to tell me dead man," she said quietly, "Who are these guys?"

The two Americans glanced at Ahkmenrah expectantly. He ignored them, keeping his focus on Jess.

"The Sons of Ma'at," he replied. "As I explained to Lancelot back at the museum, when I was alive they were an ancient society, dedicated to keeping the order and balance of the universe. How exactly they did that, I wasn't privy to,"

"So," she pondered, turning to face them, "they could easily be after the tablet to destroy it,"

Larry frowned and leaned on the wardrobe, arms crossed.

"How'd you come up with that then?"

She shrugged.

"Well, I don't think you can come more close to putting off universal balance than bringing a load of people back from the dead every night."

The pharaoh's brow creased in concentration as he nodded his agreement.

"I did think that doing a Kahmunrah would be a little out of their style," he muttered. Larry smirked.

"Did you just use your brother's name as a verb?"

"Yes," Ahkmenrah answered, glancing at the man with a smile, his eyes glinting. "Picked up a few things from those years educating obnoxious teenagers,"

"Ok, guys," Nicky interrupted. "Straying off subject here,"

"Yes, you're right," the young king admitted, then continued. "My point being, creating some door to the underworld would definitely go against the whole…preserving the order aspect,"

"But giving them the tablet would still be _bad_," added the freckled American.

The girl in the room spoke.

"Then we don't let them _get_ the tablet," The three looked at her, stunned. She glared at them and rolled her eyes. "Don't act so surprised. They blew up my home as a warning. There's no way in Hell that I'm letting them bully me out of this,"

Larry nodded.

"Right then, how do we stop them? I mean, do we have anything to go on? Anything at all?"

Ahkmenrah scowled and dropped onto the bed, bringing a hand up to rub his chin thoughtfully.

"We know some of the weapons they use," he said, "They all had batons and surprisingly bounteous amounts of metal wire. One of them had a modified Taser,"

"Oh, the tasering was satisfying," said Jessica, propping against the wall, a self-contented smile touching her lips. "It had some nice results on that guy,"

Nicky sat beside the pharaoh and whispered in his ear.

"Ok, where'd you find the crazy girl?"

"In a cupboard," he murmured back.

"Anything else?" Larry interrupted, raising a disapproving eyebrow at the two.

Ahkmenrah shook his head.

"Nothing that I have not already told you on the journey here,"

"Um…" Jessica started. Ahkmenrah looked at the girl to see her chewing her lip and frowning reflectively.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Well," she slipped a hand into her pocket. "I might have _something_."

The girl tugged out what looked to be a small sheet of notebook paper and an even smaller yellow page. She showed them to the three, then took a chair from the room's desk, dragged it from behind her and sat on it across from the boys on the bed.

"This was slid under my door before the explosion," she explained, passing Ahkmenrah the lined sheet. "On one side, it had all these wired hieroglyphs and stuff on it, while on the other, there's written _Get Out_. I think whoever pushed it under the door was trying to warn me."

While the pharaoh examined the ancient Egyptian written on the first side of the page, Nicky asked,

"Do you know who _did_ send it you?"

She shook her head.

"I chased them down the stairs but lost them when I got outside. That's when the building exploded."

"Were there any casualties?" asked Larry, concerned.

"No, everyone else lived on lower floors and got out in time,"

"Good,"

Jess nodded, looked at the post-it note in her hand and frowned.

"Whoever sent me that note has been following me," she muttered, handing the smaller paper to Nicky. "That was stuck on a wall at the museum. I got lost, saw that, and it led me to an ambush near to where the pharaoh and Lancelot were holed up,"

"You don't think it was the Sons of …whatever, who led you there?" asked Larry.

She shook her head.

"Why would they want to set me up for ambush if they thought I was still in the cupboard they locked me in?" she said, "Besides, it's in the same handwriting as the second one, and the guy I chased didn't look like the four in the museum."

"Undercover?"

"To deliver a warning about the warning? I don't think it was them,"

Nick cocked his head and scowled at the paper.

"Who writes their capitol Fs like this?" he muttered. "It's like a small F, only with half of it missing,"

"What's wrong with Fs being written like that?" Jess asked, annoyed. "I write them like that,"

"It's just wired,"

Their argument about handwriting was interrupted by Ahkmenrah.

"It's a spell," the pharaoh murmured.

"What?" asked Larry, leaning over to see the paper.

"The hieroglyphs," Ahkmenrah answered, looking up from the sheet. "The first part is just a simple note, to me I'd assume as the writing is my native language."

He read from the page,

"_Go to the Needle, Read the spell,_" He paused, "_Don't expect me to go any more prophet-like than that. You'll have to deal with the lack of poetry, I'm not a frickin' bard. How about, the answers you seek will come to reveal themselves? That'll have to do…"_

"Wait, it actually says that?" asked Nicky, incredulous.

Ahkmenrah nodded while Jessica smiled, the girl liking the writer's tone.

"Can we trust this guy?" Larry put in.

The pharaoh continued reading.

"…_You're going to have to trust me on this or you will never stop running from the Sons,"_ He looked up from the paper. "I think we cannot afford _not_ to trust them,"

Nobody looked particularly thrilled at this.

"What do they mean by 'the Needle'?" asked Larry.

"Well, isn't it obvious?" Jessica said. The three looked at her, questioningly. "Oh right, American. Well," she nodded to the paper, "It likely means Cleopatra's Needle by the Thames. If there was anywhere to cast an Egyptian spell, it would be by that Egyptian obelisk."

Ahkmenrah muttered offside to Nick,

"Cleopatra's the one who lay with Romans isn't she?"

"Caesar and some Mark guy,"

"Right… I can blame Egypt's downfall on her then,"

"Yeah, sure,"

Jessica snapped her fingers.

"Talking," she said, "That is what I'm doing." The two muttered apologies and she continued. "We'd be able to get down there in ….maybe half an hour? Three quarters?"

"Evil organisation, mysterious messages, magic spell, shady summons" Nicky summed up. "I can't see anything go wrong with that _at all._"

"Face it," said Larry, pulling the keys to the rented car out of his pocket and starting for the door, "All our plans have ever been are glorified hunches,"

The three seated stood up to follow the former night guard as he left the room. Nick skirted past the other two and dashed after his dad out the door. Jess made to pursue them but halted by the doorway, looking round to look at Ahkmenrah.

"Hey, Ahkmenrah?" she said, here expression uncomfortable. "I don't really blame you for….what happened. You were just the only ancient Egyptian related thing I could get hold of to beat the crap out of,"

"It was understandable," he replied, "I only hope you know that I never intended for anything of the sort to happen,"

She raised an eyebrow.

"You think you'd still have all facial features intact if you had?" she said, then added, "Hey, if we end up bumping into those guys from the museum again, fancy stabbing them multiple times with something really blunt and rusty?"

The pharaoh grinned, his slightly sadistic side showing a little.

"Oh, we shall tear out their innards and put them in their own canopic jars," he replied.

"Good," she smiled and spun to leave.

"Jess?" he said. The girl glanced at him over his shoulder, inquisitively. "Third meeting, you can call me Ahk. My friends find it's less of a mouthful,"

Her eyes glinted and she nodded.

"Time to go then, Ahk," she said, and left the room.

Ahk sighed with a smile, and hurried to catch up with her.

* * *

Snow had begun to drift from the inky sky and coat the ground with a light duvet of white as the four exited the rental. The air around them bit through the pharaoh's clothes, his chest barely protected from the sharp winter breezes.

"It is freezing," he exhaled, his breath forming white puffs in front of his face.

"Wow," Jess replied, "You've lived in Britain for three years and you've never noticed?"

Ahk scowled.

"I meant the snow," he said, holding out a hand to let a few flakes settle. "I'm from Egypt. I've never become quite accustomed to the frozen rain drops falling from the sky,"

"Here," Nicky said, pulling off an outer jacket and handing it to the pharaoh. "I really think you should invest in a set of winter clothes though,"

Ahkmenrah nodded his thanks and zipped the jacket over the regal cape and collar.

"Is this it?!" Larry called as he strode in front of them, towards the, close to seventy foot, obelisk set on the Embankment, beside the River Thames.

"Why is this ancient Egyptian piece of architecture even here?" Ahk asked as they followed the man ahead of them, Nicky shrugging on his rucksack where they'd decided to keep the tablet.

"Some pharaoh called Thutmose had it put in the city of Heliopolis," the girl answered, "maybe a few centuries after _you_ were alive. It's called Cleopatra's Needle because it was brought here from her royal city, Alexandria. There's one in New York and Paris you know,"

"Yes, but, _why_ is it here,"

"Well, being British and having just beaten Napoleon, I suppose we wanted something flashy to commemorate it,"

"And how-"

"Oh for heaven's sake, just read the signs," she griped, gesturing to the plaques mounted around the base of the monument.

The four clustered in front of the obelisk.

"What now?" asked Nicky.

"I guess we let Ahk read the spell and see what happens," his dad replied, looking to the pharaoh. Jess fished about her pockets and brought out the hieroglyphed paper.

"The Sphinxes are wrong," Ahkmenrah muttered, taking the page from her and unfolding it.

"Hm?" she inquired.

"The sphinxes," he pointed at the two turned in to face the Needle. "They should be facing outwards, as though guarding it."

Jess shrugged.

"What can I say? People were stupid back then."

"_Can't say we've had many complaints,_" a creaking, metallic voice stated.

The four spun in shock to see the left sphinx's human face yawn widely.

"_Indeed brother,_" the other bronze statue agreed as it stood up and stretched like a cat. "_I must say, we really don't give a jot as to which way we are facing._"

"_We're not even alive most of the time, so how in heaven's name are we to guard it?"_

Ahkmenrah blinked, and only then realized that the tablet in Nick's backpack had brought these two to life. The subject of their awakening was not the first question put to them, however.

"Why do you have English accents?" Jess asked, her head tilting with curiosity. Seriously, that gesture was becoming familiar.

One of the sphinxes raised an eyebrow.

"_Because we __**are**__ English_," it said.

"But, shouldn't you be speaking Egyptian or something?"

She had a point. Ahkmenrah only had a British accent due to his learning the language throughout his years at Cambridge, and his parents had learned the tongue back in the ancient times.

"_No_," the statue answered, "_Because we were not made there_,"

"_We're faux_!" piped the other, scratching the side of its head with a back paw. "_Fakes, imitations, bad replicas of things __**from**__ Egypt_."

"Right," said the pharaoh. That did make sense, he supposed.

The second sphinx eyed him oddly, while its brother proceeded to start grooming the paws it'd just scratched with.

"_And who are you then?"_ it asked, noting the glinting robes beneath Ahk's jacket. "_You don't seem to be a copy of anything, and yet, you are older than __**this**__ relic,_"

It nodded to the obelisk.

"How can you tell that?" Larry asked.

It shrugged its feline shoulders.

"_Oh, sphinxes. Symbols of wisdom, mysteries, riddles, truth etcetera?"_ It sniffed. "_Knowing a pharaoh from a figurine is a given, don't you think?"_

"_Momvmhmmnnnn_," The first said in muffled agreement, now beginning to lick its-

"Oh, that's a bit gross," Jessica muttered, glancing at the young king. "Seriously, you guys used to _worship_ cats?"

Ahk rolled his eyes.

"_Brother!_" the second exclaimed, horrified. "_Show a little decorum_,"

The other lifted its head to glare at its sibling and straightened out, sulkily.

"_So, what do you want?_" it asked, a little grouchily.

"Oh, nothing much," Larry assured. "Just going to recite some spells, see what happens,"

They both rolled their eyes simultaneously.

"_Oh, my dear brother_," creaked the second, "_We've got cult enthusiasts_,"

"_So long as they don't try to sacrifice me to some nature god, I'm happy_," the first countered.

"Guys, we're not in a cult," the former night guard tried.

"_Oh, carry on,_" second said, ignoring the man's statement. "_We won't stop you. Just don't blow up the damned thing. There really wouldn't be much point to us being here if __**it**__ wasn't,_"

"Great," Larry grumbled, "Thanks,"

"Larry, it's fine," Ahkmenrah assured, stepping forward with the page. "Just be thankful that they're bad at their job. Real sphinxes would most likely have killed us….or at least given us riddles by now,"

"_It's not too late for the killing bit,_" the first grated in annoyance.

The pharaoh smoothed out the sheet in his hand, took a breath, and began reciting the spell written there.

"_**Sands of Thoth**_**,**" he chanted, "_**Show us the way, to the days long past. Receive us and provide us with the answers we seek,**_"

The falling snow around them began to descend in a funnel, leaving the air about the group clear. The wind picked up and started batting at the pharaoh's soft dark hair. Jess was receiving the worst of it though, her own locks whipping in her face, ignoring her attempts to brush them away.

"_**Show us our enemies, hidden and in plain sight,**_"

The wind grew stronger and a slight rumble could be felt below their feet.

"_Remember, no blowing up things!" _the first yelled about the howling winds.

"_**And keep until we set things right!**_"

Ahkmenrah shouted the last line to the sky and watched as a bolt of lightning charged down from the heavens and struck the tip of the Needle. Blue light crackled down the obelisk's length and, when it reached its base, sketched out a rough circle around the four.

"What's it doing now?!" Jess bellowed to be heard.

"I don't know!" the young pharaoh replied.

A loud hissing sound could suddenly be heard from below them and they all looked down. The circle ground around them was swiftly turning into sand, the blasts of wind sending buckets of the stuff into the air and whipping around the four like a sandstorm.

"What's that?!" Ahk heard Nicky yell, the boy being barely visible now through the sand. He could just about see his figure pointing to the centre of the circle. He looked to where he was pointing and saw that the middle sand had begun dipping and swirling into a sinkhole.

"OUT OF THE CIRCLE!" the pharaoh barked, gripping the nearest arm and tugging it towards the sand pit's edge. However, they were promptly thrown back by a strong fist of wind.

"It's not letting us leave!" shouted Jess, to whom the arm he had grasped belonged to, he now realized. The sinkhole grew bigger and swallowed faster.

"Dad!" Nicky yelped in alarm as his feet were caught in the sands' suction. "Dad, it's got me!"

"Nicky! Hold on, where are you?!"

The sides of the pit were steepening now, Ahkmenrah and Jess just grasping at the edges, while Larry and Nick were both trapped near the centre.

"Ahk!" Jess cried as she lost her grip and began sliding towards the centre. Ahkmenrah gripped her arm more tightly.

"Hold on to me!" he yelled in response. She did so, grasping his forearm with a strong grip. The flying sands were stinging is skin now, reminding him of the horrid sandstorms that had occurred a few times in his previous lifetime. What also reminded him of home now was the heat. Hot air had risen from the earth, warming him as they sank. The sand was getting hot now too, as though it'd been out in the desert sun all day and baked enough to kill a lizard. Ahkmenrah was having difficulty holding onto the edge now, as the edge in question was quickly loosening into sand itself.

"Sphinxes!" he tried, getting a mouthful of sand for his efforts. But the sphinxes could not hear him….or, if they could, they didn't feel inclined to lend a paw.

The pharaoh's hand came away from the edge and he began sliding down with the rest of them. They all felt the earth claim them. They felt the sand rise up their bodies at an alarming rate, quickly enveloping their waists - chests - shoulders. The heat burned their skin but the pain was bearable. What wasn't was the fact that they were going to drown in sand any minute and Ahkmenrah briefly found himself wondering if the tablet would still bring them back to life every night, underground and lungs full of earth. Having spent time locked away in a tight spaced sarcophagus, the young king found he liked _this_ idea much less.

Nicky went under first, soon followed by his father. And then it was Jess's head that dipped under the swirling earth. With a last, panicked cry, Ahkmenrah felt the sand take his nose - eyes - and finally, head.

And then all was silent.

The sand pit filled out and hardened back into concrete. The winds stopped raging and the snow fell as normal.

The two sphinxes stared at where the odd assembly had been.

"_Where'd they go?_" wondered the first statue.

The second shrugged and yawned.

"_Haven't the slightest,_" it said in reply, yawning. "_Couldn't really give a damn either_,"

"_Hm, nice people,_" the other said, and then promptly resumed his grooming.

* * *

Hidden in the shadows, on the pavement opposite the Embankment, the stranger watched as the two sculptures moved. The figure gave a sigh, their breath crystallising in the air before their face.

"Good luck to you guys," the stranger muttered. Then, pulling their grey hood further over their eyes, the mysterious figure slipped away.

_**Hey guys, ten cupcakes If you could spot the foreshadow**_

_**So, yeah. Guess where the others have gone. I hoped you liked those two and please please please comment on both. Good reviews mean the world to me. Also follow and fave if you haven't already, then you'll be my favourite people :D **_


	8. Chapter 7: The Shrine and the City

_**Disclaimer: (beginning to think being sued would be less trouble than having to write this every time) still don't own anything but plot and OC.**_

_**So yeah, 17 Followers! **__Guys, seriously 50 would be amazing. If you share on tumblr or somethin then, if we ever meet in real life, I will legitimately buy you several domino's pizzas and any flavour of ice cream you like. __**Anyway, thank you to:**_ **OnlyTheMusic**, _Azkadela__**, DancingKitKat, , M'andil D'andusm'aril Peredhel, MD5991, Nightdaze, Proud Olympian , Stephanie Lou, True Essence, Winter Rainbows, keacdragon, m00nlightsamurai, ruler of the ice dragons, spooky jaz, timeladyelf and xllamaxbuttonsx for following. I hope you're all enjoying it :)**_

_**Those who have given me those wonderful reviews last time, thank you! : DancingKitKat, timeladyelf, spooky jaz, whatkindofnameisvolta, and (a heart lifting PM from) M'andil D'andusm'aril Peredhel.**_

_**And to my favouriters, Sheyla Ryddle,**_ _**WinterFrost15, Stephanie Lou, guardian of art and bravery, ruler of the ice dragons, spooky jaz, timeladyelf and xllamaxbuttonsx, *grabs you all into a huge hug and doesn't let go* I'm going to keep you!**_

* * *

Chapter 7: The Shrine and the City

When Nick Daley had come home from college for Christmas, he'd not expected to be dragged to England, of all places, so soon after he arrived at his dad's front door. When Larry had burst into his apartment, just come back from the school where he worked, Nicky had been slouched on the couch, feet on the table and concentrating on a text book entitled 'Medicine Through History' strewn lazily on his lap.

"_Hey Dad_," he'd greeted, flipping the book closed and pushing it from his legs. Then he'd noticed his father hurriedly rush across the room, without sparing him a glance, and begin rummaging through a desk draw, for what, he didn't know. A clearly agitated expression was etched upon the teacher's face. "_What's going on?_" Nick had asked, worriedly.

Larry had then straightened, triumphantly shaking the passport he'd found in the draw before shoving it into his pocket.

"_Nicky,_" he'd asked, now acknowledging his son, "_Do you have your passport?_"

"_Um, yeah?_" the younger had answered. "_What's this about dad?_"

"_We need to get to England._" The man had then headed into the bedroom, presumably to find his out of work coat. "_Ahk's in trouble. Someone's after the tablet_,"

Nicky closed his eyes and rubbed then, irritably.

"_You've godda be kidding me,_" he'd muttered, then, loud enough for his dad to hear. "_You sure they're not after some sceptre thing or amulet this time…or a magical zebra? That would make a real nice change,_"

Larry had then stridden back in, shrugging on a dark grey winter jacket.

"_Come on, we've gotta catch the next flight_," he'd told him.

"_What, now?_" Nicky protested, looking at him, disbelievingly. "_I just got here, like, yesterday_,"

"_Yes, now. Apparently he's being accommodated by a non-to-pleased museum visitor who got caught up in all this and she doesn't want a mummy in her house come sunrise_,"

"_Ur…what?_"

"_Tell you on the way_," the older man had replied, yanking open the front door. Nicky had then sighed, taken another moment to rub his eyes in exasperation before pushing himself off the couch and heading to the coat hooks. Once he'd zipped up his jacket and grabbed his backpack, the young man followed his dad out the door.

* * *

"_Nick_,"

It was dark. Too dark. When Nick opened his eyes he blinked a few times, just to make sure that they were, in fact, open. He couldn't see a thing.

What had happened to him?

He was sprawled on his back, his entire body aching, each limb feeling dense and useless. Underneath him, Nick could feel the hard, dusty ground and the tablet still in his backpack press against his back, the floor's coolness contrasting with the heat he'd felt those last few moments by the obelisk.

_The Obelisk,_

He remembered now. They had been at that Cleopatra's Needle. Ahk had recited the spell and then they'd been sucked into a hot whirling sand pool of death.

That had not been a nice experience.

_And we're alive?_

"Hey. Hey, Nicky," he heard his dad persist, a hand shaking his shoulder. "Nick, you awake?"

Nicky moved his head slightly to face where the voice was coming from and tried to answer. His mouth felt bone dry, his tongue a heavy wad of sandpaper. Wait, there was actually sand in there, he realized when shifting his tongue, experimentally.

"D-Dad?" he croaked before hacking out a cough, his lungs filled with dust. He pulled himself up with heavy limbs. Still coughing, his dad held him steady in a sitting position before he bent over and spat out the sand and dust from his lungs onto the ground beside him. "Ugh," he said, wiping his mouth before rasping, "Where are we?"

"Not sure," his dad muttered, patting him on the shoulder. "You good to stand up?"

Nick did his best to swallow and then nodded to the darkness.

"Yeah, I think so," he replied then, quite shakily, pulled himself to his feet. "Are the others here?"

He noticed the sound of his voice echoing slightly, giving the impression that they had ended up in a particularly large room, or perhaps an underground chamber.

"Woke up a few minutes ago," Larry said from beside him. "Ahk seems ok, but Jess….I'm not entirely sure,"

It was only then that the young man heard the noises, coming from the dark a little to the right of him. It sounded as though someone was breathing rapidly, the noise occasionally cut by panicked whimpering. This, Nick assumed, was Jessica, who sounded as though she were beginning to hyperventilate.

"Is she ok?" he murmured.

"I don't know," his father replied, "I can't see a thing. I have no idea what's going on with her,"

Nicky shifted, carefully towards the sounds, amongst which he could now hear Ahkmenrah muttering calmly to the girl.

"Jess," he was saying, "Calm yourself. Take a few deep breaths."

"I-I can't," they then heard her whisper amongst her hasty gasps of air.

"Yes you can," Ahk assured her. "Breathe with me. Slowly…"

He took a deep breath, and then another. After about three, Jessica could be heard joining in, taking each inhalation as the pharaoh did. When she seemed to calm down a little, Ahkmenrah asked.

"Ok, now do you still have that flashlight in your pocket?"

"Yeah,"

They heard a slight shuffle as Jess, presumably, rummaged in her pocket. Then something clicked and a small beam briefly blinded Nick's light-starved eyes.

When his sight grew accustomed to the slight illumination, the young man glanced about him, examining their surroundings. His dad was standing close beside him, blinking rapidly as his own eyes adjusted. The man had a thin layer of sand covering him, dusting his hair and making him look older than he actually was. Nicky briefly wondered if his own clothes and hair were similarly peppered and self-consciously ruffled his hair to dislodge the stuff. He turned his head to look at the other two, Ahkmenrah crouching down in front of Jessica, the jacket he'd leant him also covered in sand and his dark hair lightened by the powder. Jessica herself was sat, hunched up against a wall. Her knees were curled to her chest, held there by shaking arms, and in her hands she clutched the small pocket flashlight as though it was a lifeline. Nicky fleetingly wondered how the pharaoh had known that she'd had it, suspecting a story behind it, but he brushed the thought aside and focused on the seemingly terrified girl. Her whole body was pale and still shaking, the light had only served to calm her breathing only somewhat. The glow was little, but Nick could still make out her features, her eyes most of all. They were rimmed red, as though she'd been crying, and were frantically scanning her surroundings, flinching at the slightest movement the other three made. The beam was pointed upwards, and so Nicky looked to the ceiling. However, the ray only reached so far before meeting a blanket on shadows, making the height of the room a mystery. The light reached at least ninety feet so the true height of the chamber would doubtlessly be dizzying.

"Any better?" Ahkmenrah asked, and Nick quickly shifted his attention back to the pair by the wall. The girl scrunched her eyes shut and her breathing began quickening again. "It's ok," the pharaoh continued to assure her. "I think you're having a panic attack,"

"No shit," she gasped, irritably. He ignored this.

"Just try counting to ten,"

The girl tried.

"One-two-three,"

"Slower,"

She paused, and then took it up again.

"One…Two…Three…Four…"

She kept counting as Ahkmenrah persisted to instruct her, urging her to lift an arm above her head, then lower it and to keep repeating the action.

"We need to try and wear her out," he muttered when he noticed the questioning look that Larry threw at him.

Again, Nicky wondered how he knew this but thought it not the time to ask.

By the time the girl had stopped counting and had dropped her arm for the 22nd time, her breathing had steadied, her body had stopped the majority of its shaking and she had plucked up enough courage to open her eyes and keep them open.

Nick looked at her, a little worriedly.

"Are you ok?" he asked after a few moments.

Jessica blinked, as though only just noticing the two standing were there, and hastily wiped her eyes.

"Yeah," she mumbled, and then sniffed. "Yeah, I'm good,"

"You sure?" Larry persisted.

"I said I'm fine," the girl grumbled, pulling herself to her feet. When Ahkmenrah tried helping her up, she flinched away from him. "I'm fine," she repeated, scowling. The Pharaoh held up his hands and backed away respectfully, focusing instead on brushing himself down to be rid of the settled sand. At first, Nicky thought she was just being rude. I mean, Ahk had done the best he could to calm her down, he'd done a fair job of it too it seemed, and all she could was stand up and snap at him. But then he noticed the manner in which she now held herself now. She was still shivering, but only slightly, and wouldn't look at anyone directly. She wasn't being deliberately ungrateful. She just seemed… embarrassed. At what though?

"Where are we then?" Jessica enquired, casting her flashlight about the space around them. "That was a nasty sand pit,"

They all looked to where the beam was illuminating. Not much could be seen but Nick could tell that the circular chamber was perhaps ten metres in diameter. No doors, as far as he could see. It reminded him of a church, he realized, taking in the looming pillars that lined the room and the towering walls that reached to an unseen ceiling. The place smelled of dust and damp. Wherever they were, Nick doubted anyone had been there for a while. The beam was aimed in a wide arc, the shadows of pillars, and the occasional dead brazier, stretched and morphed creepily as the light brushed them.

"What are those engravings?" he asked, stepping forward as the wall closest to them was lit up. Jess stepped out of the way and obligingly shone the light beam upon the wall, which was, indeed, engraved with picture writing and painted illustrations of striking men and women. Some bore the heads of animals while others wore elaborate diadems and crowns. The sight reminded the young man of Ahk's make-shift tomb, back at the Museum of Natural History.

"Those are Hieroglyphs," Ahkmenrah muttered, confirming Nicky's thoughts. "And those…" he ran a hand gently across the pictures of animal headed Egyptians, "…are the Egyptian…my... gods,"

"So, are we in a tomb or something?" asked Larry, dusting his hair of the sand inhabiting it.

Ahkmenrah shrugged and shook his head, unsure. He turned to Jessica, who was still holding the tiny pocket flashlight.

"Jess, might I borrow that?" he asked, holding a hand out. She looked at him, uncertainly, a little unwilling to give up her light source. "I'll return it," Ahk assured.

Jessica frowned, nodded and, very hesitantly, handed the flashlight over to him.

The pharaoh smiled in thanks and began casting it about himself. First, he examined the floor, which was covered in dirt and sand. Not much to take note of…at least until they noticed the circle, carved into the ground in the centre of the round chamber.

"I think that was where we woke up," Larry said, shuffling cautiously towards it. The shape was about the same size as the sinkhole they had been sucked into, Nicky noticed. Perhaps a sand pit had appeared here as well and spat them out, like it had just discovered it'd been chewing on a cluster of cinnamon jelly beans. Nick couldn't blame it for that. He hated cinnamon jelly beans. Might as well make candy out of nettles, in his opinion.

As the four neared the circle, Ahkmenrah shone the flashlight upwards to scour the other objects in the room. Just a couple of feet in front of the circle, there appeared to be a heavy stone altar-like object. It was covered with yet more painted images of gods and columns of hieroglyphs. Nicky noticed that a couple of things were laid out upon the stone table and, as he neared to examine them, he realized that it _was_ an altar. One of the objects he had spotted was a large flat dish which held the blackened remains of, what he presumed, used to be some sort of food offering. On either side of the dish were smaller bowls. Ahkmenrah drew up beside him, adjusted the flashlight in his hand, and cautiously picked up one of the bowls. He brought it to his nose and sniffed it.

"You can still smell the incense," he murmured and handed it to Nick. The young man took a sniff himself and felt the aroma of mixed spices invade his nose.

"So this place is a temple…or maybe a shrine?" he asked, placing the bowl back on the altar. He looked to the Pharaoh beside him, who had directed the flashlight to the wall behind the dais and was staring, his lips slightly parted with a slight frown creasing his forehead. "Ahk?" Nicky looked to where his friend was shining the light and saw what he had been staring at.

Before them, looming over the four and the altar, stood a towering black statue of a huge bird headed man upon a raised stone plinth against the wall. It held a key-like object in its left hand; an ankh, if Nick could remember Ahkmenrah's lessons correctly. Grasped in its other hand was long, body length staff, topped by what looked like an antelope head. Nicky couldn't be sure what the creature was exactly, from this far below the rod's top. The god itself stood proudly, its strangely long beak curved in a crescent shape and the tip hung over the altar. Its features were cast in eerie shadows that made the sight seem downright sinister.

"Something's wrong," Ahkmenrah muttered, examining the statue.

"Why isn't it alive?" Larry pondered from just behind the two, as though finishing the Pharaoh's statement. "The tablet, it should have brought it to life like it did the sphinxes,"

"And you're complaining?" Jessica muttered, glancing up at the shadowy figure, unnerved. "I'm not sure if we want to be trapped in a room with an active sixty foot tall god,"

Nicky shifted the bag on his back uncomfortably.

"Do you think something's wrong with the tablet again?" he asked.

Ahk shook his head.

"There's nothing wrong with the tablet," he assured, eyeing the satchel that held the precious heirloom. "I would know. No, I think it's something about the statue itself,"

He looked back to the ebony god.

"It's Thoth isn't it?" Jessica asked, dodging round the altar to get a closer look. "God of magic, time, writing and a bunch of other stuff that I can't be doing with listing."

"Still interested in Ancient Egypt then?" Ahk enquired, raising an eyebrow. "I wouldn't have thought you would still be into that sort of thing,"

She glared at him over her shoulder.

"I remember stuff, alright?" she grumbled.

The pharaoh looked as though he were about to say something else, when the conversation was cut off by a sudden but slight rumbling sound and a small vibration of the ground beneath their feet. It then stopped, just as suddenly, leaving the chamber's occupants casting nervous glances about themselves.

"That didn't sound good," said Nicky, looking over to Ahkmenrah for answers. "Did your people build temples with booby traps?"

"Not the temples. If they _had_ done that, people would be too afraid to come and honour the god the place was dedicated to," He flitted the light up and down the statue. "In this case, it was Thoth,"

"But why would someone send us here?" wondered Jess, coming back to the altar. She leaned heavily on the other side, facing the men already gathered there. "What did that page say? 'find the answers you seek' or some claptrap like that," She glanced up at the ceiling. "We're meant to find answers trapped in an old temple? Is that it?"

"Hold on," Ahkmenrah muttered, handing the flashlight back to its owner and shoving his hands into the pockets of Nick's coat. He frowned. "Ah,"

_Oh oh, _thought Nick.

"What?" the girl asked suspiciously.

"I think I might have misplaced the parchment," he replied, a little guiltily.

"Great," Jess said bluntly, flinging her arms in the air with exasperation. "And how are supposed to get back?"

"Ahk, do you remember anything about the spell you recited?" Larry asked, careful not to sound in any way accusing. It wouldn't do for Ahk to think more than one person blamed him for losing the sheet. Nick didn't think he was to blame at all. He'd seen what had happened by the obelisk. The pharaoh had most likely lost it when trying to drag the girl out of the sinkhole so he saw hardly any reason for _her_ to complain.

"I'm not sure," Ahk said in answer to Larry's question. "The first line, I think it said something like…"

The young man recited something in Egyptian.

"Yeah, buddy," the teacher patted him on the shoulder. "It doesn't help when we don't know what you're saying,"

Ahkmenrah blinked, realizing that he had said the words in his native tongue.

"Oh," he said, apologetically. "Right, of course. I meant to say, 'sands of Thoth, show us to days long past,' or something of the sort,"

The two Americans frowned. Jess, however, didn't appear to be listening at this point. All she did was mutter to herself.

"We're all going to be trapped forever in the church of the giant ibis headed statue." She shuddered.

Nick glanced at her irritably but looked back to his dad and Ahkmenrah.

"Sands of Thoth? What does that mean?" he said.

The pharaoh shrugged and rubbed his chin.

"Considering how we got here and that one of the things Thoth is god of is magic, it _could_ mean magic sands,"

"Makes sense," Larry muttered.

"We'll all suffocate in this underground prison," Jess was carrying on. And then, "Shut up!"

The three snapped their heads round at the sudden outburst.

"What did I say?" the former night guard asked.

Jessica stared at him and blinked.

"Uh, nothing. Sorry," she looked away darkly. "I was talking to someone else,"

"Okay," Nick said slowly, then addressed the pharaoh again. "Did it say anything about getting out?" he asked.

Ahkmenrah forced his gaze away from the girl, who had resumed her muttering, and leaned forward, rubbing his temples.

"The last line. I think it said something like, 'stay until we set things right' or something like that,"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nicky scowled. "Set things right? Set _what _right? Could this guy be anymore vague?"

"Nicky, I honestly _don't know_,"

Their conversation was cut short, however, by a sharp breath that came from Jessica's direction. They looked to where she now stood, leant against the bottom of Thoth's statue. Her arms were tightly crossed and her eyes were screwed shut again. It appeared as though whatever calming affect the flashlight, still clutched in her hands, had been overridden and now she was just standing there, shivering and breathing heavily.

"Steady breaths Jess," Ahk reminded her. She didn't reply, but her breathing became a little less frantic. Ahkmenrah rounded the altar to stand in front of her. "We need you to stay calm," he continued, wrapping his bronze fingers around the hand that clasped the flashlight gently. "We are not going to die here, alright? Not if we keep calm and think about it,"

The girl opened her eyes and glared at him, but then she took one last breath and her face softened slightly.

"Fine," she muttered, her voice catching a little, before brushing her fringe from her eyes. She pulled her hand from his and wrested it on the pedestal she was leaning on. Nick then saw her frown slightly and look down to where here hand had landed on something, shining her light upon it. "What's this?"

Larry and Nicky edged closer to where the two stood to see what she was on about.

"It…it looks like a lantern," Larry said.

And yes, stood between the lifeless god's feet, was what looked to be bronze box with a ring perched on the top, as though it were once hung from it. Its metal sides appeared to have more hieroglyphs carved on them. Its door, another hieroglyph covered wall, only this one had a large red jewel embedded in the centre, was stood open.

Ahkmenrah stooped to inspect the small square lantern, Jessica moving out of the way to allow him more space.

"There's still some oil in here," he murmured before shifting his attention the hieroglyphs etched on each side. His brow furrowed thoughtfully. "Does anyone happen to have any flint on their person?"

"I have matches," Larry offered, fishing out a small matchbook from his trouser pocket. He threw it to the pharaoh who deftly caught it.

"Thank you," Ahk said before taking a match out and striking it against the book. After a couple of tries, the match ignited. Carefully, the young king dropped the small flame into the oil and the four watched as it caught alight.

"What're you doing?" Nicky wondered, raising an eyebrow as Ahk shut the small bronze door. To be quite honest, the lamp didn't really do much to illuminate the chamber. In fact, with the lantern closed, the only light that escaped the box was through the red gem embedded in the door. The jewel emitted a ray of warped, red light into the chamber and Nicky followed its beam curiously. His eyes stopped on the wall across from Thoth's lifeless statue and frowned. "Oh," he murmured, seeing the answer to his own question.

Upon the wall, there shone a fist sized dot of concentrated red light, the ray having been distorted by the precious stone set in the lantern. Ahkmenrah crossed the room and studied the lit up spot on the wall, reading the hieroglyphs that had been suddenly made visible there. A troubled scowl crossed his face and he carefully ran his hand over the painted plaster.

"What is it?" asked Larry, drawing up beside him.

"The Arch of the Covenant?" Jess suggested, dryly, peeking around the men's' shoulders to see. "Is it telling us its final resting place?"

"What?" Ahk said, glancing at her from the corner of his eye, "No, it's showing us the door,"

"Well, great!" said Larry.

Ahk made a _tsk_ sound.

"Slight problem…" He paused. Nick frowned in irritation.

"What?"

Ahk reached out and pushed hard on the wall, with one hand experimentally.

"The writing says that this chamber has been left to the gods and only a deity can reopen the door."

"So we need a god now?" the young American groaned.

"Yes,"

Larry frowned.

"But didn't your people believe Pharaohs were gods on earth, or something like that?" he asked.

A flash of irritation crossed the young king's face.

"Well, apparently I no longer count," he grunted, giving the wall one last shove.

Jess, who had been standing fairly quietly behind them, sighed in exasperation.

"Oh, for heaven's sake," she grumbled, striding over to the wall and lightly elbowing the pharaoh out of the way. She squinted at the wall's writing, following it, with her fingers brushing against each column. "A god, you say?" she asked.

"Yes," Ahk answered, scowling at his being shoved away from the door. He'd shown a lot of patience for her so far and Nick was impressed with this. He did wonder, however, when the guilt from her blown up house would diminish and have him react like an ordinary person. "We'll have to find another way," he continued.

Jess snorted.

"Huh, sod that,"

And, with a solid kick, the girl punched a nice sized hole through the wall. The other three stepped back in alarm as she sent another couple of kicks into the plastered brickwork, widening the hole in a wall that looked to be made of hard, steady limestone.

When the hole seemed large enough for the largest of them to crawl through, Jessica stepped back and brushed her palms, satisfied with her work.

"Jessica," Ahkmenrah said in a flat voice. "I think that may have counted as a _tiny_ bit of sacrilege,"

Nick just stared at the hole in the, previously so carefully painted, wall of the shrine and a fraction of his brain had to agree that, if he had been this guy Thoth, he would not be all too pleased with the girl. Perhaps the young king's sympathy would drain away sooner than he thought. The dominant parts of his mind, however, made him ask the more pressing question.

"Are your bones made of steel?!" he said, pointing to the stone rubble. "I mean, seriously… wait, are you from Krypton?"

Jess gave him a '_stop being an idiot_' kind of scowl and absentmindedly kicked a loose piece of debris.

"Who knows how long ago this was built. It was just unstable," she said, patronisingly. "Now, are we getting out of here?"

She adjusted the flashlight in her palm and knelt before the hole, shining the light through.

"What can you see?" the pharaoh asked, kneeling beside her. He seemed to be choosing to ignore the fact that she'd half demolished the wall of a sacred shrine for the moment. She was right. They needed to get out of here.

Jess leaned into the hole slightly and scanned the inside.

"Stairs," she replied. "I see stairs leading up. That's got to be a good thing, right?"

She shuffled backwards out of the hole and sat on her knees, staring at the ground awkwardly.

"What are you waiting for?" Nick asked. "You made the hole, you've gotta go through it,"

"I'll go first," Ahkmenrah interrupted, settling on all fours, and began to crawl forward. Jessica sighed, with what sounded like relief, and followed him through the gap. Nick looked to his dad and gestured toward the hole.

"Wanna go first?"

The man shook his head.

"Go ahead, I'll follow,"

The younger scowled and stepped towards the gap hesitantly. He got to his knees and looked through the wall, when the flashlight from the other side was suddenly shone in his eyes.

"Come on," he heard Jess call. "Don't mind the scorpions,"

"What?!"

She chuckled.

"Or the snakes… or the really massive tarantulas,"

The boy was about to reply with a snappy remark but his thoughts were cut off by another tremor in the ground. This one seemed a bit stronger than the last, so much so that they heard one of the incense bowls set on the altar slip off the table and clatter to the ground. And, again unlike the last, this tremor continued. In the distance, all four of them heard a loudening rumble.

"Ok, hurry up through that hole Nicky," urged his dad, kneeling behind him.

Nick nodded and hurriedly scrambled through the wall, quickly followed by Larry. The pair stood up on the other side, where the space stretched into a short corridor and led to a set of steps heading upwards.

"Come," Ahkmenrah pressed, gesturing for the other three to follow him as he swept his way towards the stairs, his skilfully made shoulder cape billowing from under Nick's coat behind him. The boy did not hesitate to follow and so, gripping his backpack's strap on his shoulder, he headed toward the steps himself. Larry and Jess remained behind the younger men, Jess taking up stride in front of the teacher as she had not been too fond of the idea of behind at the back. The four carefully made their ways up the long, narrow steps as the tremors continued, Jessica shining her light ahead of them. Even with the light, however, the shadows ahead remained apparent. Within the flashlight's beam, Nick could see specks of dust linger on suspension, having not been disturbed for a while. On the walls, there hung tattered cobwebs, the silky tendrils fluttering in the air's disturbance as the group passed. After five…maybe ten minutes of climbing, the vibrations in the ground strengthened. Dust and sand began to dislodge from the ceiling onto the people below. It was only when a jagged crack ripped its way down the wall to Nick's right did Larry yell,

"This place is gonna collapse!"

"Then run!" Ahk replied, grabbing Nick's forearm from behind him and propelling them both faster up the steps.

The reverberation was becoming deafening now and, by the time they reached the top of the stairs, each tremble nearly sent Nicky stumbling back into the two behind him.

"Is there a door?" Jess called, steadying the boy's back as he nearly fell onto her for the fourth time.

Nick heard the Pharaoh curse loudly in ancient Egyptian and he looked to where Ahkmenrah was staring. In front of them was a bricked up archway.

"Oh, come on!" he shouted in frustration, then squeezed passed the young king to pound at the bricks. After several unsuccessful punches, he gestured to Jess. "Looks like you're up Iron Ankles,"

The girl scowled but joined him at the arch, handing Ahk her flashlight. She braced her hands against the wall and began kicking at the limestone. A chunk of the ceiling fell, narrowly missing them, and Nick opted to join in, kicking and shoving the wall frantically. Ahkmenrah followed suit, ramming a shoulder against the bricks with pained grunts. Larry joined in when yet another section of ceiling nearly flattened them. After several minutes of combined wall abuse, the four heard the lower stairs collapse in on itself, the destruction steadily making its way toward them.

"JUST BREAK YOU STUPID WALL!" Jessica roared.

They continued their mutual assault, and then cracks began appearing between the stones.

"Nearly there!" called Larry as the stairs behind them began caving in.

And, with one last collective shove, the walls broke apart, and the four collapsed into fresh air… along with a pile of heavy limestone.

oOo

"Ow," someone groaned, and then coughed up the dust cloud that obscured them. "I think I broke something," It was Jessica. She continued, "Hey, everyone ok? Ahk,"

"I'm in one piece," the Pharaoh answered, rubbing his soar belly where he'd landed on a large chunk of limestone.

"Good," she answered. "Nick, Larry, you two ok?"

"Yeah," Ahkmenrah heard the former night guard call. "How bout you Nicky?"

"I'm good," the young New Yorker groaned. "My ribs feel like I've been kicked by a donkey but, other than that, I'm great,"

Ahkmenrah sat up and coughed as the dust entered his lungs. He wafted a hand in front of his face to dispel the cloud and looked about him. As the dirt settled, the figures of the other three could just about be made out in the night air. Larry was busy helping Nick to his feet, both stumbling on the debris of limestone littering the ground, while Jess was on her knees, brushing the sand from her clothes and hair.

"That was close," she said, ruffling her fringe to dislodge the dust.

The pharaoh merely grunted in response, pulling himself up to stand amongst the rubble. The cloud had completely settled now, and the four found themselves in a rocky crevice. On each side of them stood mountainous walls of weathered rock with a coating of sand, while behind them, carved into the mountain, was the archway, through which they had come.

"Well," Ahk heard Larry mutter. "We're not getting back through that way."

The man was right. All they could see through the doorway now was piles of heaped stone, the stairs beyond having caved in completely.

"Well, maybe I could call someone," Jess suggested with a grunt, getting to her feet and flicking off her torch when Ahk handed it back to her. She shoved it into her pocket before pulling out her mobile. After switching it on, she frowned at the screen. "Huh, no signal," she muttered. Then she turned to the two New Yorkers. "What about you two?"

The two fished out their own phones and checked their signals.

"No good," Larry replied, holding the device up. "I've got no signal either,"

"Mine's dead," Nicky added, shoving his back into his coat.

Jessica sighed, sliding hers into her trouser pocket and began walking up the steep embankment that lead away from the shrine's entrance. "Come one," she said, "We'll try finding a town and ask for a phone,"

"Do we even know where we are?" Nicky asked, following her, his father close behind him.

"Well, given that we've just emerged from an ancient Egyptian shrine," Ahkmenrah answered him, trailing close behind, "and the copious amounts of sand and limestone, my immediate guess would be somewhere in, or at least near, Egypt,"

"How the hell could this be Egypt?" The girl ahead of them asked, reaching the top of the incline and turning to face them. "We were in London,"

Ahk shrugged.

"The magical swirling sand portal may have played a part,"

She scowled at him and the young king held back an amused grin. Jessica was a strange girl. Before the obelisk, he had thought they were at least passed the prickly stage, but that incident back in the shrine seemed to have shaken her. Too many people watching, he supposed. Too many people to see her scared.

However, as sympathetic as he was to her small phobia, Jess's blatant disrespect toward the sacred ground served to decrease the guilt he felt over grabbing a chance to tick her off. Yes, they had needed to get out of there and, yes, punching a hole through the shrine had seemed the only way to do that but if a king couldn't take a little enjoyment out of annoying a blasphemer, what was the point of being in charge of anything?

The girl huffed, spinning on her heel to look at what lay over the incline, and froze.

"Guys," she murmured, lazily gesturing for them to hurry up. "The mummy's right"

Ahkmenrah frowned and followed the other two up the path to stand beside her. When he got there, the young king straightened up and halted in his tracks when he saw what had stunned Jessica so.

"_**Oh, by Atum, I have not seen a sight like this for many a millennia**_," he breathed in his native tongue.

And it was true. The young man had not seen the likes of the vision he now beheld atop that ridge for thousands of years. Before them, there stretched the ever changing landscape of a desert, its many dunes glowing white in the bright light of a crescent moon. The sand stretched on and on, disappearing at each end of the horizon, beneath the inky sky that spread above them. The dark satin sheet was nothing like the skies seen from New York, or London. There was no flood of artificial light to drown the spectacle that jewelled these heavens. Above them, there hung giant clusters of silver pinpricks, an entire river of them reaching across the black like a gash in the velvet fabric. A myriad of colours swirled in the atmosphere's dark paint, red, green, pink, blue, depicting clear galaxies and cascades billions of miles away. The four were not alone in this landscape it seemed, however.

Below them, the pharaoh noticed, at the foot of the mountain, there clustered hundreds of buildings of alternating sizes, their flat roofs illuminated by the moon's pale light. From this distance, the four could see palm trees scattered between the houses. Close to the west of the buildings, there ran a river. Its waters, a long silver ribbon, rippled across the dry landscape. A rush of nostalgia invaded Ahkmenrah's mind as he took in the sight, a slight breeze ruffling his hair as he stood looking down upon the scene. It looked like home. From here, unfortunately, he could not tell if this place was a town or a city, as the walls of the cliff to the right of them kept the rest of the settlement hidden from view.

"Come on," Larry said, interrupting their awed silence. "We need to get down there and find a phone,"

"But what about The Sons?" Nicky asked as his father began searching the edge for a way down the mountain. "They'll still be in London, waiting for Ahk, and Jess still has nowhere to go," He gestured to the girl next to him. "I think we should at least find out _why_ we've been sent halfway across the world,"

"Ordinarily, Nicky, I would agree with you," Larry replied, testing the ground at the edge, "but if your mom found out about this, she'd kill me,"

"I don't think the risk of upsetting her should be on our list of priorities now," Nick huffed, angrily.

"Ok, listen," the older man said, turning to his son, "We should at least let her know you're ok. We'll come up with an excuse that'll explain why you might not be able to come over to hers this Christmas and we'll work from there,"

"And I need to make sure my boss doesn't fire me," Ahkmenrah heard Jess add, shifting her attention from the view. "Now let's – _SHIT!_"

The three snapped their attention towards her as they heard her panicked curse. They were just in time to see her head vanish over the edge of the cliff.

"JESS!" the two Americans yelled as they scrambled to the mountain's side, quickly followed by the pharaoh himself who had been too stunned to move for a moment.

"I'm ok!" they heard her call and, as Ahk glanced over the edge, it could be seen that she had landed on a ledge just a few feet below. She was pulling herself to her feet, brushing down her trousers and Ahkmenrah breathed a silent sigh of relief. "I just lost my footing." She looked up to glance ahead of her and stopped. "Hey guys, get down here,"

"Why?" Nick asked, "What do you see?"

"Just get down here," she replied, irritably.

The three did as they were told and carefully lowered themselves onto the ledge to join her. Ahkmenrah went first, sliding over the edge and deftly landing next to Jessica with a _thud_. He straightened as the others followed suit.

"What have you found?" he asked her. She pointed ahead of them, down the side of the cliff.

"I think that could be our way down,"

He looked to where she was pointing. The ledge continued into a continuous, two foot narrow ridge that zigzagged to the bottom of the mountain. The path seemed so constricted that Ahk doubted that even those living closest to the cliff even knew it was there.

"Oooooh, that's high," murmured Nick from behind them. He was right, the young pharaoh noticed, peering over the edge. The ground was a couple of hundred feet below them. Not high by usual mountain standards, but definitely tall enough to cause fatalities if someone slipped. Ahkmenrah had never been particularly bothered with heights. In fact, he had often spent his years as a young prince climbing the palace roof, dangling his legs off the side and spitting date seeds at Kahmunrah, his older brother usually training in the courtyard far below him. Back then, however, he had not had to climb down the side of a cliff with an ankle long shendyt and shoulder cape.

"Will we be able to see in this light?" Jessica asked, shuffling, warily across the first couple of yards.

"Just stick to the sides and you should be fine," Ahk muttered, following her.

The four carefully made their way down the ledge, keeping to the cliff wall, as Ahk had suggested. There were a couple of close calls when certain sections of the ridge decided to crumble away as they were walking. Despite the mountain being occasionally so inconsiderate however, after almost an hour's hike, the group eventually placed their feet on solid ground. They were now in a cluster of large rocks at the base of the mountain, keeping them hidden from the houses a mere few yards away.

"Oh, that feels good," Jess said, testing the ground by bobbing on the balls of her feet. "I'm honestly tempted to kiss the ground, if it weren't for the possibility that I'd accidently kiss a scorpion instead,"

Nicky just spun in a circle, arms wide open.

"Guys, we're alive," he sighed, looking up to the skies. Then he glanced at Ahkmenrah. "Hey Ahk? Who's your god of mountain climbing?"

"The earth god is Geb," the pharaoh answered, suspiciously. "Why?"

The young man in front of him spun to face the cliff, arms splayed, and shouted,

"THANK YOU GEB, FOR NOT KILLING US!"

"Hey, do you want to wake the whole town?" Jess hissed at him, reaching out to slap his arms down to his sides.

"Sorry," the American whispered, a wide grin still plastered to his face. Ahk suspected that Nick must have been more terrified than he'd let on, coming down that cliff.

"Come on," Larry urged, heading towards the cluster's exit. "Let's see if we can find anyone to help us."

And so, they headed off, dodging around each rock until they came into full view of the nearest residences. As thy got closer, the buildings became clearer in the moonlight. Though varying in size, each house adopted a distinct square shape, each wall constructed out of mud brick. Most had adobe steps leading to the flat roof, while others simply had wooden ladders, deftly braced against the side of the building to access the roof. Some of the tightly packed homes had rickety wooden doors for privacy and others had rugs to block the entrances, while a few had empty doorways with nothing to deter rodents or possible burglars. Every one of the houses, however, had square shaped windows, situated near the top of each side, a design thought up, before even Ahkmenrah was born, to avoid sand simply blowing into the house.

"There's something off about this place," Jess whispered, keeping close to the group and away from the eerie shadows of the tight alleys in between houses.

As they wondered down the narrow street, everything around them was silent, apart from the occasional growl from a half sleeping dog or two as they went by. The general outskirts of the settlement was completely dead to the world. Not a light shone in the windows and the only sound that issued from the buildings came from the gentle flapping of the rugs covering the occasional doorway as a warm breeze softly whisked between the buildings. After ten minutes of walking further into the town, passed silent wells and sleeping livestock, and still having not seen a soul, Ahkmenrah was just about to suggest they politely knock on someone's door when they heard a small _clatter_ come from an alleyway to their left.

The four stopped short. The young pharaoh strained his ears to hear anything else, hoping that it had simply been a couple of badly balanced boxes. However, that sound was soon followed by a _smash_ as some very breakable sounding crockery sounded as though it had been smashed against a wall. A surprised grunt came after that, from the passageway's shadows.

"Who's there?" the pharaoh demanded, straightening, then added in Egyptian, "_**Show your face**_,"

The other three stiffened into ready stances, possibly contemplating whether the hiding stranger was a mugger or someone of an equally distasteful occupation. The boy who stumbled out of the gloom, however, appeared to be nothing of the sort. One thing was evident though. He was either very peculiar in the head, or very drunk. By the broken pitcher handle he grasp, Ahkmenrah guessed it was the latter. He also supposed that the pitcher was what they had heard smashing earlier.

"_**I'm showing it**_," the stranger chuckled in Egyptian stupidly, a drunken grin plastered on his face as he added, "_**And I must say, it is beautiful,**_"

The boy looked about fifteen, his young face creased into a lazy smile. He was quite lanky and, though hard to tell in the meagre light given to them, the Pharaoh saw that the boy's skin was a little darker than his own, possibly the colour of dark caramel if seen in the daylight. His head was almost fully shaven, with the exception of a single black braid grown on the right side of his head, and around his waist was a dirty grey plaited kilt. It was similar to that which he had once worn himself, only his had been…well… clean. Ahkmenrah had not expected so little to have changed in his homeland since his own time.

Another thing also surprised him.

"_**You speak my language?**_" he asked the boy.

The stranger simply blinked dazedly, and sluggishly regarded the four. He pointed at Ahk.

"_**You, my friend, are dressed like a really, **_**really**_** crazy person**_," he slurred, before setting into a fit of giggles. "_**I'm sorry**_," he droned, "_**I – am – pissed.**_" He brought the broken handle up to his mouth, then noticed the distinct lack of pitcher attached to it. His eye's widened in surprise. "_**Where'd the beer go?**_"

"Ahk?" he heard Larry murmur behind him. "Do you _understand_ what he's-"

The pharaoh held up a hand to cut him off.

"Hold on a moment Larry," he threw over his shoulder, eyes still on the drunken teenager. He then addressed said teenager again. "_**We have travelled very far, my friend. I wonder, would you happen to know where we can find a…**_" he stopped short, realizing that he did not know his language's current term for 'phone', or 'computer'. He couldn't even refer to 'electricity'. Instead, he opted to hold a hand to his head, demonstrating using a mobile to get his point across. "_**…a device of communication?**_" he tried, hoping the boy would get his meaning.

The boy did not.

"_**Er… What?**_" the lad asked.

"Ahk," Larry persisted.

"I told you to hold on a moment," the young king muttered. The man behind him fell silent, grudgingly, and Ahkmenrah spoke, once again, to the boy. "_**We need to call some people we left at home,**_"

The stranger snorted sleepily and shrugged, his nose scrunched in bemusement.

"_**If you've really travelled as far as you claim…**_" He whispered the next line conspiratorially. "_**... Then they're definitely not going to hear you from here.**_" The boy sighed and stretched, before idly dropping the pitcher handle to the floor, where it clattered next to his bare feet. He then pointed to a conjoining street to his left. "_**Now, I'm going to go that way… because **_**that**_**…**_" he paused, as though trying to remember, "…_**is where the pretty girl is,**_"

"_**The 'pretty girl'?**_" Ahkmenrah asked, slowly. The boy nodded enthusiastically and tapped his head.

"_**The lion told me… pretty girl,**_" he said with a smile, leaving Ahk wondering just how much the lad had had to drink. "_**Nice meeting you, you … you crazy person,**_" the boy finished, hopping down a small set of steps, that led up to the alley way, and began staggering towards the entrance to the street he had previously pointed out.

_Why does every new person I meet these days automatically assume I'm mad?_ The pharaoh wondered briefly, thinking back to when Jessica had called him something similar when he'd tried to convince her that the museum came to life at night. Alright, granted, that was a fairly good reason to question someone's sanity.

"_**Wait,**_" Ahk called after him, "_**Do you at least know of a place we can stay?**_"

The younger Egyptian spun to face him and gave a dramatic shrug.

"_**Ask someone who's sober,**_" he suggested, spreading his arms wide. He was about to turn back toward the road again when his face suddenly became a sickly pale colour and his careless smile slid off his face. The boy lurched toward the nearest wall and clung to it for support.

Ahk frowned.

"_**Are you-?**_"

He was cut off by the sound of the stranger's retching. The boy's stomach then evacuated a considerable amount of its contents onto the dusty ground before him.

"Ugh, that's the second time I've seen someone do that in a day," Jess muttered.

Ahk shot a warning glare behind his shoulder as he hurried towards the boy. After gesturing for Larry to follow his lead, the pharaoh knelt next to the stranger, who had slid to the ground with a pained groan.

"_**Take it easy,**_" he ordered, resting a hand on the lad's shoulder as he tried to get up again.

The intoxicated boy shook his head, his braid jiggling with each movement.

"_**Uat...**_" he mumbled, "_**Need to speak to… Uat,**_"

A cocky half smile formed on the young king's face.

"_**Is she the 'pretty girl' you spoke of?**_" The boy looked up at him and nodded, reluctantly. "_**Well, I'm sure she'll still be there when you are well enough. You wouldn't wish to visit her in the state you are in now, would you?**_"

The younger sniffed and wiped a small string of vomit from his chin.

"_**Tomorrow,**_" he agreed with lazy nod.

Ahk's smile widened a little further and he patted him on the shoulder.

"_**Now, let us see about getting you home,**_" he said softly. "_**Could you tell us your name?**_"

"_**Huh? Oh,**_" the boy muttered, "_**Thuoris… my name is Thuoris,**_"

"_**Well, Thuoris,**_" Ahkmenrah said, hooking one of his arms around his back before hauling him gently to his feet. "_**Can you tell us the way back to your home?**_"

He placed one of Thuoris' arms around his own neck, and gestured to a clueless Larry to do the same on the other side. The teenager, now supported by the two men, slumped his head to his chest dejectedly and pointed vaguely down another street, this one leading further into the myriad of houses.

"_**Few streets that way,**_" he muttered, his eyelids drooping. "_**Just, don't let my mother kill me,**_"

Ahk smirked.

"_**We'll try not to,**_"

The three set off at a steady pace down the road that Thuoris had directed them, followed by the remaining two, who were both looking at the pharaoh, bewildered.

"Hey, Ahk?" Nicky asked, eyeing the drunk teenager. "Where are we going?"

"We're taking Thuoris home. It would be unwise to leave him to his own devices at this point,"

"Thuoris? Is that his name?"

Ahkmenrah nodded and heard Nicky grunt in acceptance. Then he asked,

"Does his family have a phone?"

The pharaoh didn't answer for a moment but then shot him a reassuring smile.

"I'm sure they do. If not, they can direct us to somewhere we can stay and you can ask around tomorrow,"

"Right," was all Nick said in response.

They continued down the narrow streets, following the occasional grunted direction from their new companion, and made their way deeper into the settlement. After ten or fifteen minutes of walking, they had steadily made a wide arch around the mountain from which they had come, and Ahk suspected that they'd soon be able to see just how far the settlement extended around the cliff. For the past few minutes, Jessica and Nick had been in conversation, the girl's responses sounding noticeably stiff as she was forced into socializing. However, she had continued the banter, asking him about college and the like, as the boredom of trailing the two supporting a drunk, love-struck teenager had begun to nag at her.

"Hey, buddy?" Larry muttered, trying not to get the attention of the two behind them. "Can I talk now?"

The pharaoh nodded, remembering.

"My apologies Larry. What did you wish to ask?"

Larry raised an eyebrow.

"Ahk, you're not a dumb kid," he said. "I think you've had a suspicion, ever since this guy spoke to you… maybe a little before."

Ahkmenrah cast his eyes down.

"What are you talking about?"

"He can speak ancient Egyptian Ahk, as a first language it sounds as well," The young king shifted Thuoris on his shoulder uncomfortably. Larry continued. "And the clothes? Egyptians just don't dress like this in the twenty first century,"

"What are you suggesting Larry?"

Of course, he knew exactly what the former night guard was suggesting, and Ahkmenrah didn't know how to feel about it. On the one hand, the prospect made him excited. It would explain the constant, nagging nostalgia he had been experiencing since the shrine. On the other hand, however, the thought made him feel more lost than he had ever been at either of the museums. He had made a home in New York, and again in London. If his suspicions turned out to be justified, Ahk had no idea how he'd react. He didn't know if he would belong any more. But he couldn't admit to it. He had to hear Larry pose the same hunch, just to assure himself that it wasn't simply his memory clouded imagination.

"I'm suggesting that maybe the magic sinkhole of death didn't just transport us to Egypt…"

The man paused, supposedly waiting for a reply. It didn't come however, as Ahkmenrah had halted in his tracks. He had not even heard Larry's last sentence, his thoughts having been frozen in shock as he stared at the, now visible, entirety of the settlement's skyline. What shook him wasn't the surprising extent of the houses' numbers that had not been able to be seen from the side of the mountain they had looked out from. What shook him was the monumental silhouette of an, oh so familiar, building. A building of towering white stone that decorated the horizon, beneath the inky canvas that was the sky. And, though distant, it still managed to dwarf the city below it. It was a building that had been buried in sand, along with this city, for the past three thousand years, and yet, there it was.

Some part of his mind heard Jessica as she noticed what he had been staring at.

"_Woah,_" Her voice was distant,_ "is that a palace?_"

Ahk felt his non-existent heart leap to his mouth as every voice inside his head screamed something different. _Run-rejoice-cower-laugh-fight-dance-cry-embrace-…_

What was happening?

"Ahk?!"

Larry's voice snapped him out of his trance and he blinked at the man beside him.

"You ok?" Larry asked, concerned.

"I..." He paused, "...I know where were are," he said, his voice straining. Larry narrowed his eyes, shifting the drooling teenager they supported between them slightly so as to look the pharaoh directly in the eye.

"Where are we?"

Ahkmenrah gazed again at the palace in the distance, a faint smile playing at his lips.

"We are in the city of Kheso," he said, and then felt an uncontrollably huge grin stretch across his face. "We are-" His voice faltered, and then he continued, in awe, "I...I'm home,"

* * *

_**So sorry that took so long. I had an easter break. Anyways, the next one'll be here soon so please please please review. It makes me write faster. (note: credit for knowing the name of Ahk's kilt, the shendyt, goes to Reidluver. I'm given to understand she researched really hard for this to thank her). again, please review and brighten my day :)**_


	9. Chapter 8: (too long again)

_**Disclaimer: (beginning to think being sued would be less trouble than having to write this every time) still don't own anything but plot and OC.**_

_**20 Followers! **__Woohoo!__** Thank you to: SummerMistedDragon, That-Stubborn-Biotch, WebSurfer263, OnlyTheMusic, Azkadela, DancingKitKat, , M'andil D'andusm'aril Peredhel, RAINBOWSNEMESIS, MD5991, Nightdaze, Proud Olympian, Stephanie Lou, True Essence, Winter Rainbows, m00nlightsamurai, ruler of the ice dragons, spooky jaz, timeladyelf and xllamaxbuttonsx for following. I hope you're all enjoying it :)**_

_**Those who have given me those reviews last time, thank you! : whatkindofnameisvolta, DancingKitKat, spooky jaz, , and byakuhisana (a brilliant PM from) M'andil D'andusm'aril Peredhel.**_

_**And to my favouriters: , Sam726, Sheyla Ryddle, Stephanie Lou, That-Stubborn-Biotch, WebSurfer263, WinterFrost15, guardian of art and bravery, ruler of the ice dragons, spooky jaz, timeladyelf, and xllamaxbuttonsx,*steals multiple cake shops and deposits them in each favouriter's garden***_

* * *

Chapter 8: Dates, Dreams, and the Prowler at Dawn

Ahkmenrah had been sickeningly upbeat all the way to the drunk kid's house. It wasn't that Jess couldn't understand why we was happy to be back in his own time, in his home town, and barely a mile away from his childhood home. This place had been lost to him for four thousand years, and most of that time he had been stuck in a tomb. She sympathised with how he must have been pining to be back here all that time, not knowing any other existence beyond his burial place, and unaware of how far the world had progressed. So yes, he was allowed to be happy.

What did grate at her, however, was his sudden wide-eyed chirpiness as they'd continued down the dark streets, telling Larry and Nick stories of when he was growing up.

"I don't know how I did not see it before," he'd said. "Though, I suppose I've never thought to come to the outskirts in the dead of night. Look, somewhere far away in that direction..." With statements like this, he'd always nod enthusiastically toward some structure, or distant area of the city. "…Just within the city's boundaries. That was where we held the Flame Festival. Oh, and behind the palace is a grand arena. We'd held tournaments and chariot races annually, usually to celebrate a birthday in my family…"

He'd been wittering on like this for a while. Nicky and Larry had looked interested, if a little pale in the moonlight, and smiled unsurely at each thing Ahk said to them. They were trying to be nice, the girl could tell, not wanting to bring a downer onto the pharaoh's good mood. But they probably felt like she did. The three were thinking the same thing. If they wanted to get home now, they couldn't just hop a flight to New York or London. They'd have to find some other magical portal type thing to get back to the twenty first century, and where on Earth were they meant to start with that search? Nick, who had been all for staying a while to find out why they were sent there, didn't look so keen now, faced with the possibility of never being able to get home. And then there was the matter of if they _did_ find a way back. Jessica wasn't sure if the others were thinking this, but, looking at Ahk's lit up face, it occurred to her that he might not want to go back with them. And she knew that he'd have to. Nobody could bring that up to him now though, even if they were all thinking the same thing.

Jessica had found herself beginning to miss conversing with Nick, as she had been before Ahk had realized where they were, which was saying something.

His chatter had been cut off then by their new friend's slurred Egyptian. The boy, Thuoris, had said something and pointed towards the one house, on their current street, that had a light left in the window. The flickering glow shone like a beacon in the street.

The five sidled up to the building's old wooden door, the two men in front supporting Thuoris between them. When they reached the entrance, Larry looked to Nick.

"Hey Nicky?" he said, grunting now at the boy's weight. "Could you knock for us?"

The younger American sighed but skirted quickly around the three and gave the door a brisk knock.

From inside, the four heard a sudden scuffling and hurried footsteps coming towards them. The door then flew open and an anxious looking woman, perhaps in her late twenties, rushed to the drowsy boy.

"_Thuoris!_" she cried, cupping his cheeks with a pair of dark hands, lifting his face to look at hers. She spoke to him in rapid fire Egyptian and a look of guilt began warping the kid's features. When she'd stopped her angry rant, he mumbled a couple of words and her face softened. Jess supposed that what he'd said was an apology.

The woman pulled him from Larry and Ahk's support into a tight embrace, which he melted into, wrapping his arms around her waist and burying his face in her shoulder. Jessica thought he heard him sniff. The woman then pulled away and, stroking his cheek, spoke gently to him. He nodded drowsily then, after stepping away from her, stumbled towards the door. Before he disappeared inside the house, he cast a nervous glance at the four who'd brought him home, and then he was gone. Now, alone with the strangers, the woman turned to face them and Jess noticed just how striking she actually was. She was quite beautiful, she supposed, with her hair a straight mass of black braids. Her skin was quite dark, certainly compared to Jess's, and she wore a plain white dress that covered one shoulder. Her warm brown eyes were decorated with kohl and around her neck there hung a simple blue amulet that depicted a woman with the head of a lion.

Her gaze briefly flickered to the four's attire, her eyes clouded with curiosity.

She then looked to Ahkmenrah, and a warm smile creased her face. She said something to him in a grateful tone, taking him by the hand and clasping it in both of hers. Ahk smiled and replied softly, though his previous excitement was still apparent in his face.

Jessica guessed that she was probably thanking him for returning Thuoris. She then found her gaze flitting to the light in the window and realized that the woman had probably put it there in the hopes of it guiding him home. The notion almost made Jessica feel sentiment towards this family.

She also noticed that the light wresting on the open window sill looked nothing like the lantern they'd seen in the shrine. This one was around the same size as her hand, its shape noticeably leaf-like. It was hollowed out in the centre and, on the top, there was a hole to pour in the oil. On the tip of the leaf shape, there was a smaller hole with a burning wick poking out. It reminded Jess of an extremely misshapen version of Aladdin's lamp, only this one was made of clay and had a distinct lack of a genie. The blatant un-modern…ness of the object made the girl's stomach turn as it served as a reminder of just how far away she was from home.

_Home? What home? Your 'home' got blown up, remember?_

_You have recently been dangerously flitting from comforting me, to irritating me,_ she grumbled mentally. _Make up your mind._

_Well, what are we going to do now?_

_**I'm**__ going to find another portal. Maybe find the original spell that Ahk used. There've got to be temples around here that have that kind of stuff._

_And Ahkmenrah?_

She squirmed internally.

_What about him?_

_Would you take him away from __**his**__ home?_

_If he wants to stay, that's for his mates to convince him otherwise. I'm getting back, with mummy in tow or not._

She was brought out of her thoughts as the woman gestured towards the other three, her eyes quickly scanning their clothes again, and said something to them, questioningly.

The girl was just about to indicate that they couldn't understand her when Ahk cut her off. He pointed at each in turn.

The words, "_Jessica, Nicky, Larry,_" cropped up in his sentence as he introduced them.

He then went on to say, as he later told the three, that they had travelled from a far off land, where the attire was greatly different to that of the Egyptians. At this, the woman raised an eyebrow, glancing at the royal garbs showing below Ahk's winter jacket, but apparently didn't question it.

After the short exchange between the two, the woman turned towards the house, said something insistently, and gestured for them to follow her.

Ahk glanced over his shoulder to look at them, his eyes glinting enthusiastically.

"Is anybody hungry?"

oOo

The four soon found themselves seated on separate reed mats, surrounding a low square table. Their kind hostess, who had introduced herself as Hundra, had left the front hall via another wooden door, which led to the rest of the house, to prepare some food. Larry and Nick had shrugged off their outer coats, but Ahk left his on to conceal the royal attires underneath as best he could. Jess also kept her coat on, looking rather reluctant to make herself comfortable. Ahkmenrah simply shrugged at this, the girl's actions a decided mystery to him. She glanced back at the door, through which Hundra had left.

"Is she Thuoris' mother?" Jess asked, still staring at the doorway. Ahk nodded and she frowned. "She looks a little young to be a parent of a … what was he, fifteen?"

"She probably had him young," the pharaoh answered, shifting uncomfortably in his coat. The warm Egyptian night air was beginning to affect him.

"What? When she was twelve?"

"Most likely,"

She looked down at the table thoughtfully, brow furrowed further.

"That's-" She shrugged. "I don't know…"

"It was a common occurrence to marry young,"

She remained silent, staring down at the table, so Ahkmenrah left it and took the opportunity to take in their surroundings. Though, the current room was quite small, the building likely covered a much larger space. This house was notably of higher class than those they had seen closer to the cliff, those having been barely more than crudely built one roomers. This one was much more luxurious, and quite clean. Looking about, from his seat on the floor, Ahk could see that the walls were decorated with large, Egyptian style paintings. The familiarity sent a shiver of nostalgia down the pharaoh's spine. The images depicted different scenes with various animal headed or multi-coloured gods.

Behind him, there was Osiris, lord of the dead.

_Fitting_, Ahkmenrah thought, when he craned round his neck to look at the images. The king of the underworld was a blue skinned god wrapped in white and sitting on a sideways throne while his wife, Isis, stood behind him. Across from him, there was painted a set of scales, towards which an imposing jackal headed Anubis led a human Egyptian man by the hand. Facing forwards again, Ahk noticed Jessica, who was sitting across the table from him, staring at the jackal, unnerved. He supposed she was still trying to process everything that had happened to her in the past twenty four hours. When she noticed him looking, she looked away from the painting, quickly. On an opposite wall was an image of a falcon headed man, Horus, judging by the lack of sun disk. Beside him stood their old friend Thoth, the Ibis headed god whose shrine had brought them here. Jessica made a sour face when she noticed the picture, as though she would love to throttle the deity.

A large bowel of water stood beside the table, and, a few feet away, against the painted plaster, was a ledge, holding what looked like incense bowels, similar to those in the shrine, and a small statue of a grotesque little man with his tongue sticking out.

"Who's that meant to be?" Larry asked from Ahk's right, after following the pharaoh's gaze.

"Isn't he some protector god?" Jess, then frowned at herself. "Wow, I really was unhealthily obsessed with this stuff,"

"That's Bes, the dwarf god," Ahkmenrah said cheerily. "He scares away evil spirits that would do a family harm. Most Households would have an altar like that in their first living space, where they welcome outsiders,"

Jessica frowned.

"It isn't moving… just like the Thoth statue back at the temple…" Then the girl glanced at him. "Could you stop doing that?" she said.

"What?"

"You're grinning like a kid on Christmas morning. Could you stop it?"

It was only then that Ahkmenrah noticed she was right. He _was_ beaming like an overexcited child. He just couldn't help it. Everything was just so comforting and familiar. Here, he could not make a mistake. Here he wouldn't have to ask what to call this or that because _he_ already knew. He had to admit that, during his first few weeks of freedom at the Museum of Natural History, he could not fathom what exactly an 'ice cream' was. He feared he may have looked a little foolish to his friends while he was uneducated in such matters. But now he was home, and he knew exactly how to act and what to say. It was quite a refreshing feeling.

And so, he did not let up on the smiling. His grin only stretched wider, which was met with an eye roll from Jess.

Just then, Hundra returned with a large clay plate in her grasp. She set it down on the table between them and they saw that it was piled with dried dates. A small pot of honey was placed in the centre.

The three non – Egyptian speakers murmured a 'Thanks' in English. Well, Jess and Larry said it in English. Nicky, who had once been taught a few words in Egyptian by Ahk when he was younger, tried for a rusty '_thank you'_, at which she gave a delighted smile and patted his shoulder warmly.

"_**This one has learned from you**__?_" She asked Ahkmenrah.

"_**Yes**__,_" he answered, his chest swelling slightly with a twinge of pride. He didn't think Nicky had remembered any of his lessons from the museum. "_**A few years ago**__,_"

"_**Well, it sounds like you were a very good teacher**__,_"

Ahk gave her a bewildered, but grateful nod, and she turned to retrieve a water pitcher from a shelf.

He looked over to Jess, who's stomach had begun to make loud complaints, and saw she was about to reach out and grab a date. The young king reached across and staid her hand. She glowered at him.

"What?" she griped, "Dude, I'm hungry,"

"Wash your hands," he said, taking his arm away to lift the water bowel, next to them, onto the table's surface.

She looked at him disbelievingly.

"You've got to be kidding me," she muttered, examining her hands. "They're not even that bad,"

Well, they weren't that bad if they chose to ignore slight grime coating and the various nicks and scratches from the blown out window glass.

"We were very insistent when it came to hygiene," he explained, cleaning his equally grimed palms in the bowel. "You must show the common courtesy. It's _her_ house,"

The girl clenched her jaw, but took the bowel after he had finished. Hundra sat down silently, to perch cross-legged at the side on Jessica's right. She had brought the pitcher and five clay cups with her. She began pouring water for the four.

"You to," Ahkmenrah told the two men as he took the bowel away from the girl and handed it to them. They both took it, one by one to wash in, then finally handed it to Hundra, who did the same.

After the woman put the dish to one side, he saw Jess drying her hands on her coat and, once again, readying to eat. She caught a shake of the head from Ahk.

"_Now what?_" she mouth. He tilted his head towards Hundra, who had closed her eyes and begun to mutter a sentence.

"_Hotep Netjer em shabu…"_

The girl slumped on her mat as their hostess recited the customary meal time blessing.

"… _en emenet her iabyt_," the woman finished, opening her eyes. She smiled at them all again and gestured for them to dig in.

The girl looked to Ahkmenrah blankly, as though waiting for final confirmation. He rolled his eyes and nodded.

She gave him a decidedly tight, fake smile before moodily grabbing a nice handful of the fruits.

And so they ate, Ahkmenrah enjoying the nostalgic sweetness of the dried fruits and dipping them in honey at every opportunity.

"_**So, you have travelled **__**far**__,_" said Hundra from her perch beside Jess. The three of his companions all glanced briefly at her when she spoke, but quickly averted their attention to eating, or talking quietly amongst themselves.

Ahkmenrah focused on the woman.

"_**Further that you would believe**__,_" he murmured. She smiled and took a fruit.

"_**You did not tell me your name**_," she said, before taking a bite out of it.

"_**Oh…um. My name**__?"_ he paused, mind thinking fast. He couldn't exactly introduce himself as Ahkmenrah. That could cause complications, especially if… well… if there were _another_ him in this timeline. Perhaps he should ask when this was exactly…although… did he _want_ to know? He wasn't sure he did. There were a few instances in his past that he might be tempted to change, or to meddle with in some other way. He'd seen Doctor Who. He knew that involving himself in his own past would be a really, _really_ bad idea. Well, he'd think about that later. Right now he needed a name. "_**My name is… Teos**_," he said, scratching absently at the table's wooden surface.

"_**Teos. Well, it is very nice to meet you**_," she said, warmly. "_**And it is lucky you happened to be wandering the streets at this time. I was going half out of my mind with worry**_,"

"_**Is his father not here**_?"

Hundra paused, and then placed the date she had been about to eat back onto the dish. She looked saddened, which had the effect of saddening Ahk. This woman was so sweet, and of such a generous nature. She reminded the generic teenager in him of his own mother, and did not particularly like the prospect of her being unhappy.

"_**My husband died several years ago. There was… an accident**_," at this, she looked unsure, but she quickly shook it off. "_**I'm afraid, Thuoris has taken it badly ever since. And now… I don't know… he thinks he's in love.**_"

"_**Ah**_," Ahk muttered. "_**Would that be this, Uat, he was after earlier?**_"

She looked dismayed.

"_**Was that what he was doing? Oh, Taweret help us.**_"

"_**I am sorry about your husband,**_"

"_**Thank you,**_" she smiled gratefully, "_**But I am passed my grief. Although, it has been harder to care for the household since he left us. I had to send our field workers and servants away. Now my son has been working the fields on his own while I keep the home.**_"

Ahk nodded with sober understanding, then glanced at the others.

"So…" Larry was saying awkwardly, facing Jess. "You know what you're going to do when we get back?"

"Yeah, your house is still…" Nick's statement faded on his lips and he coughed uncomfortably.

Jess plucked another date from the dish and popped it in her mouth.

"I'll think of somethin'," she said, chewing, her expression flat and unreadable.

Ahk turned again to Hundra, wanting to help her in some way while also having to find somewhere for he and his companions to go, and idea developing in his mind.

"_**I wondered,**_" he began, "_**Since we find ourselves… lacking in the lodgings department, if you would consider letting us stay in return for our services. I know that the two there are perfectly able bodied men and I'm sure they would be willing to work in the fields with your son. And Jessica…**_" he paused, flitting his eyes to the girl, who was absently blowing the hair out of her eyes, "_**...well I'm sure she'd be of some use to you in the house.**_"

The woman grinned and clapped her hands in delight.

"_**Oh, that would be wonderful. Yes, I'm sure I can find you all room,**_" she quickly pulled herself to her feet, then scanned the other three, who were staring at her, wondering what had made her get up. "_**You will need different clothes,**_" she decided, with a nod. "_**I shall see what I can find in the morning,**_"

Before she left to set up a room for them, Ahkmenrah added, a little reluctantly,

"_**And, another thing. Um… do you have a cellar?**_"

* * *

"So, we're staying here…" Nick asked after Hundra had left and Ahk had told them the arrangement, "…in return for manual labour?"

"Do you pose any objection to that?" The young king enquired.

The young man shrugged and scratched the back of his head, ruffling his dark hair.

"Guess not," he muttered.

"Good," Ahk said, "You and Larry will be working outside with Thuoris," then he gestured to Jess, "And you will be assisting Hundra with the household,"

Jessica, who's gaze was fixed absently on the table top, grunted.

"Fair enough," she mumbled. Then she turned her eyes to him. "What'll you be doing?"

The pharaoh felt his heart sink right there. He'd been trying to avoid thinking about this. It was nice to just pretend… for a while.

"I shall be holed up in their cellar come sunrise," he muttered, dejectedly.

Silence fell upon the table. They'd seemed to have all quite forgotten that Ahk could only be around until sunrise. So had he, he supposed.

"It's ok Ahk," Larry assured him with a small smile. "We'll come up with an excuse for you and… I dunno… _mime_ it to her in the morning,"

Jess looked like she wanted to argue. She possibly wanted to point out the unfairness of the fact that they'd be earning their keep while his royal highness slept. But, looking at his face, she seemed to realize that he truly did want to help. He wanted to join the boys outside and work in the sunlight. He wanted to see his city in the day, for the first time in millennia. But he couldn't. So she kept her mouth shut.

He tried to change the subject.

"By the way, I introduced you as my cousin, Larry," he told the older man. "Nick is your son and Jess is _his _cousin,"

"I have to be related to you?" Jessica complained.

Ahkmenrah raised an eyebrow.

"Would you prefer her likely first assumption?"

The girl leaned away suspiciously.

"What would that first assumption be?"

"That you're married to Larry,"

Larry choked on the water he had just been drinking while Nick burst into a fit of giggles. The girl punched the younger American on the arm.

"Shut up," she snapped, glaring at the boy whose chest was still heaving in uncontrollable chuckles.

"I don't see why you're laughing," Ahk told him, his smile feeling a little more genuine. "When I explained our fake relations, she thought _you _were her husband."

He stopped laughing immediately and his face flushed red, drowning his freckles. Jess flung up her arms in protest.

"Why do I keep being paired with you people?" then she paused, something dawning on her face. "Ew, she thought we were married cousins,"

"Ok, this is reaching further levels of wrongness," Larry agreed, absently wiping the spluttered water from his shirt.

"Then she asked if _I_ was your husband,"

"Oh, COME ON!"

All three men gave a smirk. Even Larry couldn't help a slight chuckle at her reaction. She glared at them, which made their faces straighten immediately. Funny how her glower almost made Ahk want to back away. She then addressed him again.

"You did say no to that, right?"

He bobbed his head.

"Weeeeeell…"

"AHK!"

His face broke out into a smile again.

"She doesn't think we're married," he assured her with a chuckle. The girl glowered, leaned over, and punched him in the arm, as she'd done with Nick.

"Ow," Ahk muttered, the smile still lingering. Then he remembered something. "Oh, and I'd like you to call me Teos, in the presence of others,"

Larry frowned.

"Why not stick with Ahkmenrah?" he asked.

"Because," the young king replied, "we don't know if there's… another Ahkmenrah,"

"Like… another guy _called_ Ahkmenrah or….."

"I mean another me Larry,"

"Oh,"

My, they could be slow. The three were silent for a few seconds, processing the possibility.

"Soooo," said Nicky, "There could be another you up in the palace right now?"

"Yes,"

"Awesome,"

Ahkmenrah furrowed his brow.

"Not really," he muttered. "If I am recognised, or if we end up bumping into each other, things could get… awkward,"

Jessica raised her hackles and stretched, a yawn rolling off her tongue.

"Why not ask Hundra?" she asked mid-yawn.

"Because I don't _want_ to know,"

The girl froze.

"Why not?"

The young man shrugged, the fabric from his borrowed coat rustling loudly.

"If I knew that I was alive, somewhere in this city, I'm not sure how I'd handle the temptation to change certain aspects of my past," He cast his eyes down to the table's surface and began running his fingertips in small circles across the white painted wood. "I don't want to know if I am alive or how old I am. I'll be avoiding anything that could tell me anything of the sort. If I don't know when this is exactly, I won't know what to meddle with,"

The eldest American was quiet for a moment, but then sighed and nodded his head.

"Alright then. No Ahkmenrah in public,"

"Couldn't have thought of a better name though?" the girl said.

"Always the critic, aren't you?" Ahk muttered.

She shrugged.

"It's a talent,"

Hundra poked her head through the door.

"_**I've laid out some bed mats for you and your family,**_" she told him. "_**If you'd like to follow me…**_"

He nodded and pulled himself to his feet.

"She's prepared our beds," He told them.

The next room was similar to the first hall, only the walls were completely white and the only Egyptian god paintings were those bordering the rooms, near the ceiling. In the corner of the next room, a section was confined by a lower wall. Beyond that wall, Ahkmenrah could just about see a wooden trap door which, he assumed, led to a cellar. He couldn't say he'd been around many cellars in his life, so this was mainly wild guessing.

"Hey," someone whispered behind him.

"Hmm?" He looked to see Jess sidling up to him.

"How are you going to hide down there?" she said, gesturing to the trapdoor. Their host led them out of the room, the lamp in hand.

"Hundra told me she has a few bags and boxes of grain and dried fruit stored for later months," he murmured back as they shuffled through a short, narrow corridor. "I shouldn't be disturbed during the day if I create a space underneath to lie,"

The girl shuddered.

"Bit creepy isn't it? Us keeping a mummified corpse in our hostess' cellar,"

"Would you prefer me to stay in _your_ room?"

Jessica _hmmd._

"Ok," she admitted, "Maybe the cellar thing's not _that_ bad,"

"Didn't think so," Ahkmenrah muttered, not sure whether to take offense at that or not.

Half way down the small hallway was another door. Hundra grasped the handle with her free hand and it opened with a _creak_. The four filed in, Ahkmenrah hanging back a moment.

"_**Thank you,**_" he said to the woman, his eyes flitting to out of one of the windows, through which he could see the moon kissed Nile just beyond the buildings spread before the house. "_**I think you may have honestly saved our skins,**_" he added, thinking of the approaching sunrise.

The woman shrugged modestly.

"_**It is no trouble. I think I shall take this chance to turn in myself,**_" she assured, with a yawn. "_**I will expect good work though so sleep well,**_"

"_**Likewise**_,"

He really hoped the others could weave a convincing excuse from him come morning. The pharaoh was about to turn away when she spoke again.

"_**Your language…**_" she said, "_**it is so… eloquent. I assume you of high birth?**_" Again, her eyes flickered to the ill-concealed royalties beneath the coat.

He opened his mouth but no sound came out. He was unsure as to what to say.

"_**Forgive me,**_" Hundra said, hurriedly, casting her eyes away from him. "_**A man should have his privacy. I did not mean to pry,**_"

He smiled, mostly out of relief than to comfort.

"_**I take no offence, I assure you,**_" he said. Then he turned back to the room, eager to retreat from this conversation. "_**I shall bid you goodnight Hundra,**_"

"Hey… uh, Teos?" He heard Jess call through the door, "Could you ask if we could steal a light?"

He sighed and turned back to the woman. The young man gestured to the lamp in Hundra's hand.

"_**My cousin wondered… well, sh- I have this problem with the dark…**_"

"_**Oh,**_" their hostess said, worriedly, and handed the light to Ahk with a sympathetic smile. "_**Have a restful night Teos,**_" she said, then turned on her heel and headed back up the corridor, ready to sleep herself.

The pharaoh took this moment to follow the others through the door. Their accommodation was pretty much the same as the other rooms, the white plastered walls bordered with more paintings. He could see why Jess had been uncomfortable enough to ask for the lamp. The pictured would have been hard to make out, as the only light illuminating the room had been the dim silver beams of moonlight stretching from the high windows to shine high on the opposite wall. The space nearest to the floor was completely cast in shadows, at which Jessica seemed to be shuddering just looking at it.

When she saw him come in with the lamp, the girl sighed in relief and took it from him.

"Thanks."

Ahkmenrah nodded and peered over his shoulder to the closed door.

"I should probably get to work in the cellar," he murmured.

"Do you want the tablet with you?" asked Nick, who had already settled himself on one of the four mats laid out for them. He held the backpack to his chest, over his crossed legs.

Ahk looked at it for a moment and then gave a nod, thinking it best to hide it with him. Hundra may be considerate to their privacy, but even _she_ may begin to raise a few questions if the tablet were stumbled across.

"Yes," he said. "I think it would be best for now,"

"What about the skirt?" Jess asked, glancing at the shendyt still visible under Nicky's coat. "And the collar. They're not exactly camouflage. You going to hide them down there too?"

Ahk looked down at what he was wearing and sighed.

"I suppose I must," he said with a shrug, holding a hand out for the bag. "Hundra _did_ mention giving us alternate attire so I should be covered,"

Nick paused before giving him the pack. He unzipped it and briefly rummaged through its content, then brought out a familiar dark wool beanie hat.

"You're staying with me," he muttered to it fondly, the he held the rucksack up to Ahk and the pharaoh took it. He slung it over his shoulder and spun toward the door.

"I'll see you all tomorrow evening. Sleep well,"

"Night Ahk," the Americans said, almost simultaneously, Nicky shaking sand out of his hat.

"Night," he heard the girl called quietly as he slipped through the door.

He headed down the now darkened corridor, hoping that the trapdoor he'd seen really was the cellar. He didn't want to have to start searching the house for it. When he reached the room, he headed straight for the low wall that cornered off that corner of the room. Carefully grasping the knotted rope attached to the door, he pulled it open silently, careful not to draw the attention of their hosts, who were elsewhere in the house. The smell of dried fruit and salted meat drifted to meet his nose and, in the dim light, he could just about make out the silhouettes of large vases and crates below him. He was about to make his way down the sandy stones steps when the trapdoor, now resting on the wall in front of him, was illuminated by a flickering orange light from behind him. He gazed for a moment in confusion at his sudden shifting shadow, and then heard a hard voice whisper from the corridor entrance.

"Ahk?" it said, trying not to disturb the household.

The pharaoh turned around to see Jessica stood there, holding the lamp awkwardly, and he blinked in surprise.

"Jess?" he said quietly, eyebrow raised. "Is there something wrong?"

Her mouth twitched into a smile and she shook her head.

"No, uh…" She coughed. "I just…well," The girl wrinkled her nose, as though she were extremely reluctant to say her next sentence. "I just wanted . to. say. thanks."

Ahkmenrah frowned, wondering what she would have to thank him for.

"Say thanks for what?"

The girl looked down, shoulder blades tense, and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Back in the temple. What you did for me… it was," she paused. "…appreciated."

_Oh, that._

Ahk nodded slowly.

"You're welcome," he said, simply, not wanting to make a big this of it. What had he been expected to do? Let her stay huddled on the shrine floor, terrified, until the Gods only know when?

"And…" she took a breath. "I'm sorry. You know, for giving you a hard time. I was just…"

Jessica trailed off.

"Embarrassed?" Ahk finished.

She shrugged.

"Crying in front of people… Not a nice feeling for me,"

He smiled, understanding already set in his mind. But still, how did she think her actions had affected him?

"I was the ruler of a vast and prospering people, Jessica. I was approached with expansion requests, war decrees and messages from the gods" he told her, with a raised eyebrow. "A few harsh words don't render me an emotional wreck. And we don't have to mention it again, if you don't want to,"

She blinked, then nodded slightly.

"Ok then. Thanks," she muttered, then gestured to the corridor. "I'll just be getting back then,"

The pharaoh bowed his head.

"Good night Jess,"

She was just turning away when she halted. Ahk's curiosity peeked. The girl appeared to be silently debating with herself, her head in the process of turning as though deciding whether to say something more or not.

Finally, Jessica looked over her shoulder at the king, a small frown on her face.

"Hey Ahk?" she asked, hesitantly. He tilted his head, questioningly. Her frown deepened. "How did you know what to do? When you… helped me,"

Ahk flitted his eyes to the floor and he crossed his arms over his chest. He took a moment to decide whether to tell her about his first few weeks out of the casket, deciding whether she was likely to simply scorn him or not.

"I spent decades trapped in a box," he began, "An experience like that would make anyone… agitated. Especially when they have to return to that same box every day,"

He paused. Should he carry on? He'd never told anyone this story, not even his parents.

"And?" Jess prompted.

He sighed.

"Having been the ruler of a great civilization once, the idea of showing weakness… didn't particularly _delight_ me. When I first found how …troubled… I became every morning…" He looked up at her calmly, though still remembering the recurring blind terror that had come to him every morning, and searched her expression for a look of judgement, "…I may have decided to looked up on how to handle panic attacks and the like,"

The girl remained silent, brow furrowed. She didn't look as though she were judging him. Of course, _she'd_ probably be the least likely to, given her own little phobia.

"You're claustrophobic?" she asked, a little incredulously. He didn't think she was finding the fact that an ancient king had been fearful of something particularly unbelievable. It was more of a, '_Heh, a mummy with a problem with small spaces,_' kind of amusement. The young man wrinkled his nose and shrugged.

"Not so much anymore, but… there'll always be that feeling of foreboding… flitting about my head whenever I go near that sarcophagus,"

Jessica looked passed to the open cellar.

"And you're going to be ok down there?" she asked.

He narrowed his eyes and smirked, uncrossing his arms.

"As I said, pharaoh, war decrees, gods... add that to a close on psychotic brother…" His eyes glinted. "I can handle a cellar,"

She shrugged.

"Fine," Jess said, turning her head back to the corridor. "Have fun with the dates your highness. Nanight,"

"Happy dreaming," he replied, just as she retreated down the corridor. Then he turned back to the cellar, and readied himself for an uncomfortable night.

oOo

_The girl could tell she was dreaming._

_She found herself sitting in a dark, grey room. She could not see the room clearly as the walls surrounding her constantly flickered, fuzzing in her vision like bad static on an old video tape. There were shapes in the fuzz, bits of furniture perhaps, masked by the ill-defined gloom. The air smelled of dust and dryness, with maybe a hint of incense. In the din, Jessica heard whispers, their words too muddled to make out a full sentence. Some of the speech did not even sound English. After a while the voices ceased, quite suddenly._

_And then…_

"**Not much to look at, is it**?"

_Her head snapped round as the voice penetrated the sudden din. Across from her, there sat a fuzzy shape, sitting cross legged as she was. It was vaguely humanoid, but its body was effected by the same murky static as the rest of the room, its shape flickering in and out of focus, too fast for anything to be seen. The only detail Jessica could make out was the hooded head of the figure, the contents beneath it consumed in shadow, not a facial feature to be seen._

_She narrowed her eyes._

"_Who are you?" she asked, tilting her head. The figure mirrored her gesture._

"**I am your conscience**," _It said and raised its … she supposed they were arms. It was only when the spectral being's unclear fingers started wiggling in her face that Jess realized it was taking the micky._

"_Funny," she said in a flat voice._

"**Oh, come on**,"_ the voice said from beneath the hood, and it dropped its arms. _"**It is a little funny**,"

_She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow._

"_Like to tell me why my subconscious would be creating immature idiots for me to dream talk to?" she asked, unimpressed._

_The shape clutched a hand to his chest in mock rejection._

"**Oh, you wound me**,"

"_Just shut up and let me get to a dream about… I dunno… that one about the dolphins in the cake shop was pretty good,"_

_The figure chuckled. Jessica was fairly certain it was a __**guy**__ dream spirit of irritation now, noting its surprisingly deep voice. The figure waved his hand and a small table appeared between them, the only thing in the room that was in focus. Its surface, Jess noticed, was divided into thirty squares (three rows of ten), and beside it was a pile of ten wooden pieces. Half were shaped similarly to thread spools, while the remaining five appeared to be slightly more cone-shaped versions of pawns from a chess game._

"**Don't suppose you've ever played Senet**,"_ said the shape, fiddling with four flat sided sticks that had appeared in his hand._

"_Urm… no," the girl replied, bewildered. She'd never thought to dream up a board game before. She wondered, briefly, what a psychiatrist would make of this._

"**Now's a good a time as any to do so then**,"_ the stranger said cheerily, taking up the five cones and placing them on every other square on the board's top row of ten. He did the same with the five spools, filling in the row's gaps._

"_But, I don't know how to play,"_

"**Get all your pieces off the board before the other**," _he told her, simply. _"**You work across the board in a zigzag to get to the end**." _He flung the four sticks he had been holding onto the ground. One landed light side up, while the other three were dark. _"**I can now move a piece one space and I get an extra turn**,"

"_These rules already sound made up," Jess muttered as he moved a cone one space and prepared to cast the sticks again._

"**This is a traditional Egyptian game, played in ancient times. Don't knock it**," _The sticks landed, two light sides and two dark._ "**Two moves and no extra turn**,"

"_Great, more Egyptian stuff," the girl grouched, taking the sticks offered to her. She then cast three light and one dark. "Three moves?" she guessed._

"**Yup**," _Her opponent replied. _"**Oh, and speaking of Egypt. Crazy stuff that's going on, eh**?"

"_Tell me about it," she muttered as the two played._

"**Mr high and mighty pharaoh can't seem to make up his mind as to what he thinks about being here**_,"_

"_What do you expect? He finds himself in the city of his birth around the time when he was alive, yet cannot walk in the day like he used to do," Jess explained. "He finds himself drowned with nostalgia and only able to access a remnant of his old life. Now add that to three modern day people who obviously want to get home… he must feel so guilty at being even a little happy," Her voice faded at the last sentence, her heart twinging with unfamiliar sympathy._

"**Poor kid**_," the figure muttered, fiddling again with the casting sticks. Then he seemed to mutter to himself, almost too softly to hear. "_**Maybe… yeah, that might work… emphasis on the **_**might**_,"

_Jessica continued, absently._

"_How did I get into this? What started it?"_

"**Well, you decided to go rob a museum**,"

_She scowled._

"_Did I? I didn't even know what I was looking for. I just…" One of her spools then landed on a square with a cone on it? "Can I land here?" she asked._

"**The pieces trade places**,"

"_Right," She traded the cone for the spool and sent her opponent's piece back to the space she had been on. "Anyway… What was I saying? Oh, yeah." She scratched the back of her neck. "I just felt … I don't know. I felt compelled to go there... to find something."_

"**And you went**?" _the voice said, his tone telling her that his eyebrow was probably raised… if he even _had_ eyebrows, that is._

"_Yeah. All in a day's work for the mad girl," she muttered._

_The figure hesitated before saying his next sentence._

"**You're not mad**,"_ he murmured._

_Jess cast her eyes to the floor._

"_Yeah, whatever," she said, softly, then tossed the sticks again. "Does four dark sides mean no move?"_

"**Five moves and an extra go**,"

"_Huh, good roll," She gave a small sigh through her nose as she moved her piece. "How am I going to get home?"_

"**You mean, the home that went **_**ka-boom**_?"

"_What is it with my subconscious creations wanting to depress me?"_

_The figure's flickering hood turned to one side._

"**Sorry**,"_ he muttered._

_Jessica's features softened slightly, and she sighed again._

"_I meant back to my own time. I can hardly stay in Egypt,"_

_The figure shrugged and took the sticks off her after her extra move._

"**Thoth would probably know**,"_ he said, _"**It sounded like **_**his**_** spell**,"

"_Too bad he doesn't show himself then," the girl growled. "I'd like to punch his beak in,"_

"**Yes… too bad**," _she heard his voice say, darkly. From somewhere to the right of her, amongst the shadowy static, something whined. It sounded animalistic, as though a sad dog where calling for attention._

"_What was that?" she asked, straining her eyes to see beyond the flickering. And then the whispering started up again, softly at first._

"**Jess**?"

_She glanced back at him, the whispers becoming louder._

"_What?"_

_The figure straightened slightly in his sitting position._

"_**Time to wake up…**__"_

oOo

The house was completely silent as the sun peeked over the horizon. Hundra was asleep in her own room; Thuoris in the neighbouring room, passed out with a string of saliva dribbling onto the reeds of his stumpy cot. The guests were slumbering too, the two Americans drowsing on their mats, their limbs splayed out and their mouths hanging open. Loud snores drifted from Larry, whose arm wrested deftly over his eyes, while his son had rolled to face away from him. The pharaoh was still in the cellar, settled neatly in a sheltered corner of the room, his body already stiffened and mummified by the arrival of the sun above ground. The tablet remained in the backpack by the king's head.

There was one person, however, who was not in a slumber. The soles of red converse shoes padded silently down the corridor, their owner making slow progress through the darkness, toward the second room. This person carefully headed to the closed trapdoor that led down to the cellar and grasped the cord that was strung through the splintering wood with a pale hand and pulled. Once it was open, the figure made its way down the steps and made a beeline towards Ahkmenrah's hiding spot. This person ignored the pharaoh's now mummified remains and grabbed the rucksack from beside his head, quickly unzipping it with deft movements. The tablet slit out into the hands of the stranger, and the stranger held it at eye level. Their face stretched into a drowsy smile and they brushed the golden surface lightly with sweaty fingers, the pale digits now visibly shaking, as though they found it hard to hold up the ancient object.

The figure murmured something and the tablet's markings began to glow, its new found light flickering off the prowler's eyes. A pair of pitched black eyes, that seemed to absorb the light that hit them. Their owner continued to chant, the Egyptian words rolling off their tongue easily, and the tablet shone brighter, this time accompanied by a metallic _shink_ sound as heat radiated from it. The stranger's words died down, and so did the tablet's glow. When the light had gone completely, the figure sighed, as though they'd been physically drained of energy. The prowler then carefully zipped the tablet back into the rucksack, placed next to the mummy's head, and turned to head back up the stairs. On the first couple of steps, the figure stumbled, exhausted. Their body was shaking even more than before and their pale skin was slick with sweat. Efforts accompanied by shallow breathing, the prowler managed to make its way up the steps and, after closing the trapdoor behind them, down the lightening corridor. The figure entered the room of the sleeping Americans and took towards its own mat, collapsing onto it in a shuddering heap. The black, marble like eyes blinked at the ceiling a couple of times and the colour retreated, leaving the darkness to morph back into a pair deep brown irises. They darted dazedly a couple more times before closing, their owner drifting back into a deep, uninterrupted sleep.

Meanwhile, in one sheltered corner of the cellar, as the sun rose further above the awakening city, the young pharaoh opened _his_ eyes and blinked.

* * *

_**Ok, yes. I know, this was EVEN LATER than the last one. I'm sorry, it's just I've had so much trouble with my laptop, and then I decided to rewrite half of this to accommodate Ahk's point of view. I know that people don't really come to read my OC's PoV all the time so I needed to get Ahk in there. Anyway, I hope you like that one and, really, the next should be much quicker. My laptop's fixed and I know who's PoVs are coming next.**_


	10. Chapter 9: One Awake, One Arrested

_**Disclaimer: Night at the Museum still not mine.**_

_**Thank you to everyone who has followed, favourite and reviewed so far. I know I usually say more at this point but it's 4:00 am and a want this posted so I'll probably add it in later. Anyway, please review and I hope you like this one (more action in this, I promise)**_

* * *

**Chapter 9: One Awake. One Arrested.**

* * *

Ahkmenrah took in a heavy gulp of air as he woke up. The smells of fruit and dried meat made him momentarily confused as to where he was. He'd been moving so much lately that he feared waking up in a different place each evening would become a common occurrence. And then he remembered what had happened the previous night. The obelisk, the shrine…. his city. They were in Kheso. The young king had to give a slight smile to that. He sat up straight and looked about him. Everything was dark as he hadn't come down with a source of light, but he knew he was still in the cellar. Feeling the ground by where his head had been, Ahk found the rucksack with the tablet in. At least Hundra appeared to have not found him down here. Carefully, he stashed the bag between, what felt like, two crates, and then he pulled himself up to his feet shakily. The Pharaoh stretched upward, loosening the stiffness from his bones, and yawned. He halted, freezing in his stretching position. Had he just yawned? Yes, he had, he reflected, dropping his arms to his sides. Additionally, he felt a slight drowsiness effecting his eyes and suddenly found himself stifling another yawn. That was weird. He shouldn't be tired _this_ early in the evening as the tablet's regenerative powers normally rejuvenated him come sunset. He'd just spent an entire day dead so what did he have to be tired about? Rubbing his eyes sleepily, bemused at this occurrence, he carefully made his way to the steps in the dark. Bracing his palms against the trapdoor, Ahkmenrah steadily shoved it open, only to stumble back in surprise as orange light flooded through the opening. The trapdoor slammed shut, blocking out the sudden light.

_That…that couldn't be…_

Something inside his belly tingled and he felt his breathing quicken.

"_**It couldn't be…**_" he whispered to the dark. Then he opened the door once again.

The light met his eyes and, through the high windows, Ahk saw the light of dawn seep in.

"_**Sunlight…**_" he breathed, propping the trapdoor against the wall behind him absently. His lips twitched into a cautious smile. "_**It's the sun...**_"

His breath caught and he stumbled backwards a step, but he kept smiling. A sudden chuckle escaped his throat and he clamped a hand over his mouth, glancing around about him for fear of disturbing the building's residence. When it became clear that neither resident appeared to be near, he took his hand away and quietly laughed, the joy in his expression still evident. As he studied the little specks of dust dancing rhythmically through the light beams, the pharaoh felt his eye beginning to dampen. When he noticed this, he hurriedly brushed away the moistness and sniffed. He then looked down, patting himself experimentally. Yes, he was still whole, in all his un-mummified, winter coat wearing glory. How could this be real?

_Oh, who cares?_

"_**I'm awake… I… I'm awake,**_" he looked up at the windows again, "_**I'm awake during the day,**_"

Adrenaline bubbled through his veins. This feeling built up to a point where he could not hold it, so he let it all out in an ecstatic jig. It was the sort of dance that you might do if that dreaded test you haven't studied for were cancelled for another couple of months, or if someone told you that some unknown relative had left you a mansion in their will. It was that sort of jig, only _this_ four thousand year old teenager had spent the last few years perfecting his moves. And so, he stood there, on the steps of the cellar, artfully dancing too… maybe several songs in his head, and giving himself multiple mental high fives.

"_**AWAKE!**_" he announced triumphantly, punching the air. He then froze, hoping that his outburst hadn't woken anyone. It hadn't, thankfully. He suspected Hundra would find something suspicious, or at least a little odd, about one of her guests dancing in her cellar. He, instead, settled to _whoop _silently in his head, grin still on his face.

Humming happily, he clambered out from the cellar and shut the door behind him. He needed to show his friends. Oh gods, the looks on Nick and Larry's faces would be priceless.

_Oh, this'll be good_. He thought to himself, heading for the corridor. Then he glanced at the windows again.

"_**Ra…Lord Ra…**_" he muttered. "_**I have never been so happy to see your light,**_"

And with that statement, he dashed out of the room.

* * *

"RISE AND SHINE PEASANTS!" Ahk yelled happily, bursting into the others' room. The others had all been sleeping peacefully. Larry and Nick on one side of the room, while Jess's huddled form was curled up in the corner. With a snort, Larry sat up groggily, his shirt already developing pit stains from the new day's rising heat.

"Wha-"he yawned. He blinked his eyes open and squinted at his surroundings, as though he'd forgotten where they were momentarily. "Where are w-"

Then he spotted Ahk by the door.

"Pharaoh…" he mumbled, blearily. Then he frowned at the light streaming in through the windows. "Huh…"

"'Huh'?" Ahkmenrah repeated, disbelieving. He had expected a little more reaction, if he were honest. Perhaps an, _OH. MY. GODS, IT IS DAY AND YOU ARE ALIVE! HAS MY REALITY IMPLODED?!_ "_'Huh'_?" he said again.

"You're awake," Larry continued, slightly dazed, blinking again.

Ahk sighed.

"Yes Larry, I'm awake," He sagged slightly. "I was hoping for more of a reaction,"

Larry grinned drowsily.

"Buddy, we're in Ancient Egypt. I can't imagine anything else will surprise me," He stretched and yawned again. "I'm guessing the tablet is a little jumbled. It would explain the immobile god statues,"

The young king shrugged, not really wanting to think about the tablet. He was up and alive during the daylight. If the tablet _was_ jumbled, then let it stay so.

His thoughts were cut off by Nicky grumbling in his sleep, on the brink of waking. The younger New Yorker sat up and ruffled his hair dazedly. With a yawn, he glanced at the two.

"Morning Dad. Morning Ahk…" Then he frowned, and stared at the pharaoh. "Wait…" He blinked rapidly and rubbed his eyes. Then he looked at his friend again and his eyes widened. "HOLY CRAP!" he yelled, scrambling back from his matt. "Holy, crap! _HOLY CRAP!_"

"That's more like it!" Ahk grinned and made his way to the bed that had been intended for him. He sat down on it comfortably. Nicky was still staring at him, having now backed up against the wall.

"How-? What-?" He pointed at Ahk, and then at the sunlit windows. "How did-?"

The two just looked at him, waiting for Nicky to calm down. After a minute, the young man against the wall swallowed and nodded in acceptance.

"Ok," he exhaled, and then addressed Ahk directly. "So… how are you here right now?" he asked, confusion and un-sureness clouding his features. "Is the tablet… is it ok? I was getting worried last night when those statues didn't say hi,"

"I've checked the tablet," Ahkmenrah lied, not wanting to draw too much attention to the artefact. "It's in… perfect working order," He _probably_ wasn't wrong.

_I'll check on it later,_ he assured himself.

"Dude, this is… _Awesome,_" Nick grinned, scooting back to his mat. "I mean, you can actually go places now."

Ahk matched his grin and would have responded, if he hadn't then noticed Jess's figure shifting slightly in the corner. Her body was curled up; an arm covering her head like her dreaming self was trying to block the real world out.

"Should we wake her yet?" he muttered to the others, nodding to her sleeping form. They looked at her and Nicky shrugged.

"You'd think she'd have woken up by now," he mused.

Before any of them made a move to wake the girl up, a knock came at the door.

"_**Hello?**_" Ahk heard Hundra call quietly from the corridor outside. He picked himself of the matt and headed to open the door.

"_**Good morning Hundra**_," he said quietly when the door was opened a crack. The woman smiled cheerily. She looked as rested as she could from only a few hours of sleep. She still looked a bit tired, having stayed up most of the night for Thuoris. She passed the pharaoh a bundle of clothes.

"_**It's going to get hot later. You won't be able to wear what you have now,**_"

Ahkmenrah glanced down at his attire, realizing that yes, in the royal garbs _plus_ the concealing winter coat, he would likely roast like a lizard on a burning rock.

"_**Um…thank you,**_" He accepted the clothes graciously. "_**We'll be out soon,**_"

She nodded and walked away, leaving Ahk to shut the door behind her.

"Right," he said, separating three garments from the bundle and chucking one each to the two other men. "New clothes. Put them on or you'll likely die of the heat later,"

As though this statement had just reminded him of the rising heat, Larry began flapping his shirt to create a draft.

"Ok," he muttered, holding up the piece that Ahk had thrown at him. "Put on skirt… got it."

The three got dressed at opposite corners, facing away from each other. By the time they all turned around to face each other, they were all clad in identical plaited white linen kilts. The two Americans' ethnicity painfully obvious, their chests practically snow white compared to Ahkmenrah's own bronze skin.

"You two are going to end up as lobsters by the end of the day, you do realize," he told them, worriedly. Nicky rubbed an arm self-consciously and shrugged.

"Hey, Ibiza was hot," he said, "I managed a week without sun cream,"

"You did not tell me that," Larry muttered to his son, irritably.

Ahk raised an eyebrow dubiously, but didn't press the issue.

"Um, Ahk?" Larry continued, this time addressing _him_. He was glancing at the pharaoh's neckline. "I think that has to go too,"

Ahkmenrah looked down and saw what he meant. He was still wearing his bejewelled collar. Hesitantly, he grasped it and carefully lifted the thing over his head. Immediately, he felt lighter, but that didn't necessarily make him feel better. This necklace, with the crown, was one of the main symbols of his family's power and right to rule. He had not felt comfortable leaving his crown back at the museum, but needs must when you're being chased by psychotic ninja impersonators. And now, he had to leave his jewels behind. He may have been dead for the past few millennia, but he had never had to abandon his heritage. He looked at the object in his hands thoughtfully. What would he be without his last reminder of his royal line? What would make him a leader… a ruler?

The young man scowled and gripped the trinket.

_I'm not a leader_, he thought, bitterly. _I haven't been one for a very long time._

"I'll be back in a minute," he muttered, bundling up his shendyt and cape, the golden fabrics shimmering in the light from the windows. Without another word, he exited the room, leaving the other glancing after him, bewildered. He headed straight back to the cellar, grasping the door's handle and yanking it open. When down the steps he shuffled around a bit, looking for where he had hidden the tablet, and stuffed his royal clothes down to join it.

The teen then took a breath, clearing his head.

…_Not in a very long time,_

He clenched his fists.

_Time to stop playacting a king in pretty clothes Ahkmen. Time to live a life._

And, with that, he left the cellar, fists still clenched and a determined scowl warping his features.

* * *

Waking Jessica turned out to be harder than it looked. First the trio had tried just speaking to her softly, coaxing her to wake up. Then, when that didn't work, Ahk tentatively shook her shoulder, lightly at first but then harder. All that achieved was a garbled mumble from under the arm covering her face.

"_Jess,_" he carried on, shaking again. "Time to rise,"

"_But_ _I don't want to go to school,_" she mumbled in her dream stupor.

"Jess!" He said, a little louder.

"_Hng_?" Her arm dropped off her eyes and they flew opened. She blinked and focused on the Egyptian standing over her. "What're you doing up?" she muttered, squinting at the sunlight shining towards the ceiling above her.

Ahkmenrah frowned, ignoring her question and paying more attention on her appearance. Sure, he understood that not everyone looked their best after sleeping, but Jess didn't look too good. Her face was paler that usual and there were dark circles under her eyes, which drooped as though she hadn't got a wink of sleep for at least two days. Her face was covered in a thin sheen of sweat. He supposed it could have just been the heat, but this coupled with her skin's unhealthy looking pallor and tiredness did not bode well.

"Jessica, are you feeling alright?"

She frowned at him and sat up, swaying a bit as she did so.

"What do you mean?" she murmured tiredly.

"You look a little ill," Ahk replied, tentatively feeling her forehead with the back of his hand. "You feel a bit hot,"

The girl shook her head, gently pushing away his hand as she did so.

"We're in Egypt, genius. That could be why. I feel fine,"

"You sure?"

She shrugged.

"Maybe a little tired, but a lot's happened recently. You all look ridiculous by the way," she replied, noting their attire. She sniffed and began pulling herself to her feet. Ahk didn't try to help, doubtful that she'd appreciate it, even when she did stumble a little when she stood up. "Besides," she continued, "changing the subject a bit aren't we? What are _you_ doing up and walking in daylight?"

The three shrugged in turn.

"Not really the strangest thing that's happened so far," Ahk said.

"Huh, so now I have to deal with you twenty four seven?" The girl tutted but gave a small smile. "And _you'll _be working like everyone else. Ok, I don't see a problem with that,"

Jessica still looked tired, but now the shadows under her eyes were beginning to fade, and the colour was beginning to return to her face, though that could have been the throbbing heat of the air. Oh, that reminded him.

"Here," he said, turning to pick up the last item of clothing Hundra had given him; one of her own dresses it seemed. He tossed it to her and she caught it deftly.

"What's this?"

"Clothing," he observed her current attire: blue jeans, red chequered flannel shirt and converse boots. "You are _not_ going to find the temperature comfortable in those,"

She raised an eyebrow and examined the dress.

"Nope," she said, simply.

"Jess, you are going to fry."

"Nope," the girl repeated, dropping the garment on her mat.

"Jessica-"

"I'll be fiiine. You can stop mothering me now,"

Ahk went silent and left the point. If she burned, that would be her own fault.

Jess yawned and stretched, ruffling her hair with one hand sleepily. She frowned.

"Has anyone got a brush?" she asked.

* * *

Hundra's family, as it turns out, was indeed a little wealthier than most. They owned several fields close to where the river almost met the cliff face (apparently the four had circled closer to the mountains and Nile when dragging Thuoris back home last night), half a dozen oxen and a small flock of sheep. They also had five plump geese that lived in the yard attached to the house. When Ahk, Larry and Nick stood at the edge of the field, Ahkmenrah took in a deep, satisfied breath. The sun was still low in the sky and its rays caught the roof of the houses and waters of the river. The Nile glistened brightly as it ran round the city.

Breakfast had been a serving of bread, honey, salted fish and more dates. Ahkmenrah had enjoyed it, up until he'd tasted the bread and felt the grains of sand being chewed between his teeth. He had forgotten how much of the stuff would get amongst the flour in ancient Egypt. Thuoris had come down, looking wholly hung-over from the previous night. He'd mumbled a brief hello and sat down heavily while his mother brought in the food. While they ate, Ahkmenrah had translated Hundra's instructions for the day. Apparently, the boys would be working with a man called Menkhaf, a man who usually spent his time closer to the mountains, caring for the sheep flock they could see grazing in the field just beyond. She'd told Menkhaf that morning of her guests and had asked him to direct them while they worked in the fields. Jessica would be helping inside the house, and maybe feed the geese at some point.

_I'm sure she'll enjoy that_, he thought to himself, sarcastically. Thuoris would also be staying in and helping, as Hundra apparently didn't trust him with alcohol still in his system.

Ahk was snapped out of his thought stream by a voice sounding just behind them.

"_**You are Teos?**_" it said shortly, the voice sounding like crackling leaves.

The young man spun on his heel to see an aged sheep herder. The old man was bald, his wrinkles made his skin look like cracked leather, and the herder's beady eyes glared out from under heavy eyelids. He wore a ragged tunic that covered most of him (thankfully), his feet were bare, and he leaned shakily on a knotted staff several inches taller than his bent form.

"_**And you are Menkhaf?**_" Ahk reciprocated, folding his arms across his chest.

The old man gave him a grin, his distinct lack of teeth showing.

"_**Don't like answering first eh boy? Very well,**_" He bowed his head in introduction. "_**Yes, I am Menkhaf.**_" Then he nodded to the two Americans, who looked clueless over what they were saying. "_**Can't they speak?**_"

"_**They cannot speak our language**_," Ahkmenrah explained, "_**But I can translate any instructions you give us… that **_**is**_**why Hundra asked you to meet us isn't it?**__"_

Menkhaf pursed his lips and nodded, then pointed his staff to gesture toward the field.

"_**First thing's first,**_" he said, "_**Irrigation trenches. The river flooded only last week so, now that the soil is fertile, you'd better get started. This is field is supposed to be planted with barley. You dig the trenches, and then we'll see about sowing the seeds,**_"

_Ok, trenches,_ Ahk thought…._I have _no _idea how to dig irrigation ditches._

Of course, he'd occasionally _seen_ fields with these channels, crisscrossing the earth, but as a prince, he'd never been expected to _dig_ one.

_Oh, this'll be fine, _he chided as Menkhaf handed them shovels, _and you're in the sun again. You can handle anything_.

Now, you may think, '_Hey guys, it's only a little digging. People do that for _fun_ on beaches'._

Well, you'd be wrong. As the old shepherd explained to the three, irrigation trenches had to be about three feet wide and more than a foot deep. Ok, not that bad, but these had to be dug with the flint shovels they had been handed; mere sticks with shaped rocks strapped to the ends. So digging the trenches, they found, was exceedingly difficult. After several hours working on one channel, Ahk's muscles began to burn, and sweat had already formed a sheen across his back and chest. The sun was higher in the sky now, but it was not even near midday yet. It would get hotter, he knew. He brushed a hand through his dampened her and found himself feeling thankful for all the combat training he'd had which had adjusted him to physical toil.

"Too hot," he heard Nick gasp somewhere to his left. The New Yorker was working on the middle of the current trench, chipping at the dried dirt half-heartedly. Looking exhausted, he straightened out to stretch and catch his breath.

"_**Come along!**_" called Menkhaf from the next field a few feet away, the sheep grazing peacefully. The man was perched on a large boulder and looking at them, amused. Ahk had a feeling he was enjoying himself. "_**Hop to it foreigners!**_"

"What did he say?" huffed Nick, now clutching his knees.

"He said good job," Ahkmenrah lied with a thumbs up, "Keep it up,"

Nicky scrunched his eyes closed, nodded, and resumed digging. Larry seemed to be holding up a little better, but, from the other end of the field, he too was looking worn-out.

Ahk was just about to suggest to the shepherd that they rest for a few minutes when a shout from the edge of the houses caught his attention. He turned his head to see Thuoris running towards them, waving frantically for attention.

"_**Thuoris!**_" Menkhaf called when he spotted the kid headed their way. "_**What has happened?**_"

Ahkmenrah could hear him now.

"_**Stranger,**_" he kept saying, "_**Stranger!**_"

It took him a moment to realize the boy was addressing _him._

Thuoris slowed and halted in front of him.

"_**Stranger,**_" he said again, breathing heavily, as though he had run from the other end of the city. "_**Stranger, your friend… the woman,**_" he gulped in air again and began to speak in rapid fire Egyptian, his expression full of panic. His sentences became a little jumbled in the middle, but he righted them and, eventually, Ahk got the message.

"What's happened?!" Larry called from the top of the field.

"It's Jessica!" Ahk hollered back, dread filling his chest. Both Larry and Nick dropped their tools and ran to him, worried looks on their faces. Menkhaf grumbled slightly, but slid off his rock to join them.

"What is it?" asked Nick, glancing at Thuoris.

Thuoris said something.

"Bottom line is," Ahk translated, anxiety constricting his insides like a python, "Jessica has been… arrested…"

oOo

Of course, that morning, Jess had never _intended_ to get arrested. The day started oddly. Woke up in Egypt with their walking dead guy up and talking during the day. Even _with_ the other weird stuff, she knew that this was odd, even for this lot.

After breakfast, while doing her best to dislodge the sand that had ended up in her mouth because of the bread, Jess had listened to Hundra explain to her what she was to do today. Her first job was to feed the geese in the yard attached to the house. For some reason, the noisy birds did not take a liking to her and insisted on snapping at her wrists as she tried to feed them.

"What is _up_ with you?" the girl muttered as she was nearly bit for the fifth time.

_HONK! _Was all they said in reply.

From her spot in the yard, Jess could just about see the guys, who had already headed downhill towards the River. She hoped they would end up as tired as she felt by the end of the day. If she'd been honest with the pharaoh earlier, Jess would have admitted that she'd felt a lot more drained than she had said when they woke her up. I was weird, as though her sleeping hadn't done anything for her. In fact, the girl had woken up way more tired than she had been before she went to bed. Jess thought she'd slept at least a few hours, although her dream hadn't lasted long. And the heat didn't help. Yeah, Ahk had been right about her clothes. They did not work well in Egyptian temperatures, though the day she'd admit that to him was the day Dracula went vegan.

_Honk!_

The snap of another goose's beak brought her out of her thoughts.

"Hey," she snapped, flinching away, "I'm not trying to eat _you,_"

Someone tapped her on the shoulder and she spun to see the kid, Thuoris?, standing there. He looked about as good as she felt; only Jess hoped she wore it better. He looked tired, and it seemed like he had a headache too, judging by the way he constantly flinched at the _honking_ of the geese.

"Morning," she muttered, throwing the last of the feed to the damned birds. The boy smiled half-heartedly and said something. Unfortunately it was in that infernal language of his. She shrugged helplessly. "Mate, I have no idea what you're saying,"

He frowned, understanding the problem. Then he tried repeating what he had said very slowly, pointing toward the city, as though that would somehow make her understand.

Jessica sighed.

"That. Doesn't. Help." She said, equally slowly. "Does. Not. Compute."

Thuoris rolled his eyes, as though catching her tone of derision. Then he gestured for her to follow him. The girl did so, letting him lead her to the front of the house, onto the street they'd dragged him up the previous night. Jess halted.

"Hang on," The boy turned, with and expression on his face that said '_What?'_. She pointed to the house. "I'm meant to be doing… I dunno… house things for you mother. Where are we going?"

The boy looked clueless for a minute, then sighed, exasperated. He grabbed a leather pouch from his waist and shook it in front of her. Whatever was inside made a metallic _chink, chink_ sound, like coins.

"Is that money?"

He ignored the question and proceeded to make a funny sort of gesture with his hands, wiggling it through the air, like a one handed Mexican wave. At that point, Jess reckoned he'd lost it.

"Wha-"

Then she noticed that the gesture reminded her of something she, and other kids, had done in nursery school when the teacher had told then to act like a sea creature. Most of them had only known about fish… or sharks.

"Wait… fish?" Jess asked, drawing a rough outline of a fish in the air. "Is that what you're saying?"

When Thuoris saw the outline she drew, he splayed his arms in triumph, as if to say '_Finally, she gets it,_".

Jess raised an eyebrow reproachfully.

"Do you want a slap?"

The boy seemed to notice her mood as he immediately dropped his arms and shrugged, sheepishly.

"So we're…" She looked at the pouch again, "…buying fish?"

Thuoris simply gestured for her to follow him again, so she took that as a maybe.

* * *

He led her into the city, and for the first time Jess could appreciate the place's beauty now that she say it in the sunlight. It wasn't just squat square houses she could see now. As they headed deeper into the settlement, the buildings became more widely spaced. Now they were walking passed taller, neater buildings, some sporting painted columns in the architecture. Jess worked out quickly that, the closer you lived to the palace, the richer you likely are. Speaking of the palace, it could be easily seen, looming over the city in the distance. The structure reminded Jess of a picture she had once seen of an Egyptian temple, the Temple of Isis in… was it Philae? Only, this one looked to be at least three times bigger and had an outer wall rimming it. In the sunlight, it almost glowed. Near the top of the building, she could just about see what looked like balconies, or maybe open air corridors, lined with columns of limestone. The pillars, she thought, kind of made the place look barred up, like a prison. A very beautiful prison.

The city was pretty much awake now, and the two soon found themselves passing a few dozen people who were headed up and down the streets. A few, Jess noticed, gave her second glances; whether because of her clothes or skin colour, she didn't know. Probably both.

The further they went, the more crowded the streets became. The roads became chocked full of citizens, different classes all crowded in one place. Jess noticed that that there were those who simply followed others, mainly trawling behind the richest looking characters, their eyes cast down and trying to look as small as possible. One other feature these introverted people shared were the black leather cuffs encasing their wrists. The girl subconsciously found herself stepping forward, maybe for a closer look at one man who was timidly carrying a feather shade over a fat bald Egyptian guy, who way more rings than needed adorning his fingers, and more kohl lining his eyes than most Goths would wear. Before she could approach them any further, Thuoris grabbed her arm and pulled her away to head faster down the street.

"Who was that man in the cuffs?" Jess asked curiously, to which Thuoris did not reply. But, as they continued towards the city's centre, she began to realize the answer. They saw more men and women in these cuffs, some roaming the streets alone, but plenty following the rich. All had eyes cast to the ground.

_Slaves,_ she muttered internally, with distaste.

Eventually they reached a wide open space of the city, rimmed with buildings that looked more official than the dwellings they passed earlier. This plaza provided plenty of space for the rackety stalls that packed the place. An entire battalion of mixed scents, of spices, incense, baked bread and herbs, overwhelmed Jessica's senses as the two bustled through the market. The place was overflowing with people, hustling in and between the stalls, some smelling the fruits on sale experimentally, some bartering for jewellery etc. Most were shouting. Their voices carried across the square, along with the sounds of the bleating and squabbling of various livestock in cages or tied to posts, and the barking of dogs. The fish stall was near the back of the plaza, attracting no noble men or women like the jewellery, bakery or trinket stands were. The girl vaguely recalled from some book or other that these nobles were unlikely to go near the fish, as they were considered unclean (or something stupid like that). The fish seller himself didn't seem to mind, his disposition cheery as he showed off crates of perch, catfish, carps, mullets and eels to Thuoris. The two spoke for a bit, possible haggling over the price, and finally they seemed to come to an agreement. The boy then took out his pouch again and emptied a small pile of silver lumps onto the scales the seller had.

While this was happening, the girl looked about distractively. Everything was so bright and alive, the spices and fabrics being traded showing off myriads and bold and vibrant colours, and small children ran through the sea of legs, laughing happily. One group was chasing a small cat.

She was just about to turn round to face the stall again when one individual caught her eye. Dashing across the square, clutching something to their chest, was a figure dressed from head to toe in black linen. Now, normally Jess probably wouldn't have found this phasing. I mean, she was in friggin ancient Egypt. Nothing should have stood out as odd at this point. But, as this figure neared her, something swinging from a golden chain round his neck caught her attention. It was a pendant and, it could have been her imagination but, it looked very much like an Egyptian feather hieroglyph lodged in a rectangle. The feather of Ma'at.

Again, it could have been her imagination, but as the stranger slunk down an alley leading out of the plaza, Jess found herself slipping away from the fish stall and proceeding to follow him.

This person was quick, darting across streets and through passages, as though he were being chased. It was all Jess could do to keep up with him and they both made their way through the city. The girl knew that if she lost sight of him, it was doubtful that she'd be able to find him again. So she sped up, trying to keep less than a few metres behind him. This did not help, however, as other people kept barging between them, heedless of her objective. It was after one particularly hefty man bumped into her that she finally lost sight of the stranger.

"_Damn_," she cursed, now opting to shove her way out of the crowed. When that was managed, she looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of the mystery man. No such luck, that is, until she spotted a tail of black linen dart around a corner, into a narrow alleyway. She hurried to catch up; recklessly pushing passed anyone else to cross her path, and then darted after the stranger into the alley. The backstreet zigzagged between the buildings. It was after rounding a corner when Jess felt someone slam into her and pin her against the wall.

"Hey!" she yelled, kicking at the man who restrained her. It was the guy in black, the one who she'd been pursuing. When she tried yelling again, he pressed a hand over her mouth and hissed something in Egyptian. Jessica began to wish that she could do what she'd done in the museum, bust out some moves and render this guy unconscious. Unfortunately, one, she had no idea how she did that the first time and, two, even if she did she still felt drained from her not so helpful night's sleep. However, it never really had to get down to that, as the man suddenly snapped his head to the side, listening. Jess noticed it too, the shouts in the distance, a group of people heading closer. The stranger dropped her and backed away cautiously. It was then that Jess realized that he _was_ being chased, and not just by her. The man hurriedly dropped her and spun to leave. It was only when that she noticed what he was holding, the corner of the object poking out through the rags it was wrapped in.

_Is that…?_

_Yup, it is._

Jessica growled and darted towards the stranger, grabbing his billowing tunic and wrenched it back. The man tumbled to the ground, dropping the bundle, which skittered across the ground. The girl dashed passed the fallen figure and scooped up the object, and then she ran. The man began to bellow after her as she retreated, but she did not turn around. She could hear him start to pursue her though. She kept going, scurrying through the emptier alleyways, clutching the treasure in her arms.

She'd known what it was as soon as she'd seen the corner, and she knew, without a doubt, that it did _not_ belong to him. She didn't glance back but she heard him shouting angrily for her to stop. His hollering became louder, and Jess knew that he could only be a couple of metres behind her now. Then she felt a hand land on her shoulder. The girl spun and shot out a fist, then felt it connect with her attacker's nose. He grunted, loosening his grip, so Jessica pulled free and started running again, dodging into another side street. As she sprinted passed a stack of crates, she kicked away the bottom one, sending the pile of boxes tumbling behind her, hoping it would be enough to slow the man's pursuit. After darting around a couple more corners, in the possibility that she'd be able to shake him off, Jessica only then began to wonder how the hell she was going to find her way back.

_Good luck asking for directions Dumbo,_ the inner voice muttered.

_NOT HELPING!_

The girl risked a glance behind her as she ran, and saw that she seemed to have lost him… for now. She needed a place to hide. That was when she turned another corner and collided with a rough stone wall.

"Ow!" she yelled, rubbing her grazed cheek, staring up at the dead end. "Oh bugger," she muttered.

Jess backed up to peer back about the corner she'd just rounded, just in time to see the man in black come out of a street a good twenty metres away.

"_Oh bugger!_"

She quickly stumbled back towards the dead end, flattening herself against the wall, out of sight. He would find her, she knew it. The girl frantically glanced about her, looking for somewhere to hide.

_Dammit, dammit, dammit…_

Then she spotted a boarded up window a couple of metres up the wall of the building next to her. It still had a sill just wide enough to stand on and, with a pyramid pile of luck, it could possibly hide her from her pursuer. Hopefully he would only think to glance around the corner, rather than come up too close. Worth a shot.

She darted to the building and, with one shaky leap, she grasped the rim of the window sill. Using what little footholds she had available, Jess somehow managed to scramble up, ignoring the aching in her arms, and perch unsteadily on the narrow edge. The girl carefully stood up and flattened herself, and the bundle, against the wooden boards. Just in time too. From around the building, she could hear a pair of footsteps hurry up to the dead end opening. They stopped just at the entrance, Jess unable to see the one who made them from her hidey-hole. Hopefully that meant that _he_ couldn't see _her_ either.

_Please don't come any further; please don't come any further…_

The footsteps stood silent, and all Jessica could now hear was an angry snarl in Egyptian. Then the man began to hasten back down the alley where they had come. When his steps where drowned out by distance, Jessica let out a relieved breath and clambered down from the window. She took this moment to examine what she had swiped from the stranger and so unwrapped the rag parcel. What was left in her hands was a gleaming golden tablet. The Tablet of Ahkmenrah.

But there was something off. _This_ tablet, while the bottom right corner and a little off the top where still missing, the edges seemed…less corroded. It was as though the fractures had not been made a few thousand years previously. Jess frowned, smoothing a hand over the gold. It could just be her imagination, she supposed, making her way out of the dead ended ally way. Her eyes were fixed so intently upon the heirloom, that she did not notice the stampede of new footsteps until they stopped just a couple of yards in front of her. She looked up and yelped in surprise. In front of her, there stood around half a dozen men in red leather armour, all glaring at her, all training spears at her chest. One of the men scowled down at the tablet and barked something in Egyptian. Jess followed his gaze, looking down at the tablet again.

"Ohhhhh," she said, the truth dawning on her. This wasn't _their_ Ahk's tablet. It was the tablet from this time, and that man in black… these were the guys pursuing _him._ He must have… _Uh oh._ She looked back up to the guards, whose weapons were still aimed at her.

_I have just been caught with stolen property, haven't I?_

"Look," she tried, "This really isn't what it-"

The soldier who had spoken before cut her off with another bark, pressing his own blade right against her ribs. She shut up, and raised her hands immediately.

Another soldier walked round the first and took the tablet from her, while a third man roughly pulled her arms behind her back and lashed them together with rope. The man in front of her, still with his spear at her ribs, said something to her and she only looked at him, bewildered.

"I don't understand you," she said. He just shrugged and turned, gesturing for her to follow. Not that she didn't have enough encouragement with the two soldiers behind her, jabbing her sharply in the back with their spears.

* * *

The trek back through the city was a humiliation, to say the least. Jessica didn't often like being the centre of attention, and this was no exception. From everywhere, people lined the streets, making way for the guards and their prisoner, staring at the pale stranger with her foreign clothes. Most were silent, but enough were muttering intently with each other for Jess to get an urge to crawl into a hole and die.

"Worse than the year six nativity" she murmured, only to be given a warning knock on the head with a spear head. She turned and glared at the man who'd delivered it, who only jabbed her in the side again to get her facing forward.

_Stupid guards,_

She wanted to keep her eyes trained on the ground, but couldn't help but scan a few faces of the crowd. Some were looking on in amusement, but most were only gazing at her with curiosity, wondering what she could have done. Then she spotted a familiar face in the gathering.

_Thuoris,_

He was staring at her in disbelief, heaving a box of fish in his arms. She looked at him helplessly, trying to communicate with her expression that this had all been a mistake, that she hadn't done anything to deserve arrest. He caught her look but simply shrugged feebly, clearly unsure as to what to do. Well, he wouldn't be of any use. The boy then set his expression, his face now determined. He shoved the crate of fish into the arms of the man next to him, who Jess only now recognised to be the fish seller come to watch with everyone else, and said something to him. Then the boy took one last look at her as she was led away, and then backed away from the crowds to retreat down a side allay.

Jessica didn't know where he was going, but she hoped he was going for help.

The procession carried on through the city, leading closer and closer to the palace and the girl began having thoughts about having to defend herself in front of royalty. It _was_ a royal treasure that she was being accused of stealing after all. She wondered if she would have to speak to Ahk's parents as it was likely they were on the throne. She didn't know much about them but, from the younger pharaoh's worrying about them back at the museum, they seemed like people nice enough to be concerned for. She hoped that nothing had changed in four thousand years. Then again, she may not be given an audience, and simply be locked away or executed without question. There had never really been much record on ancient Egyptian justice and all she could remember from her studies is that she may be about to suffer being lodged on a pike through the arse and displayed on the outskirts of the city.

Yeah, that did _not _sound like an appealing prospect.

Despite the graphicness of her impending doom, Jess couldn't help but let her mind wonder away from it as they approached the palace outer wall. On either side of the two hundred foot gates, there was a great stone figure of a god, a falcon and a crocodile headed man, carved into the walls. Horus and Sobek. Inside the gates, there were yet more buildings, these ones tall, clean and white. Their structures kind of reminded her of large square wedding cakes, like smaller buildings were placed onto the larger ones. Other buildings looked to be villas, standing out proudly from the rest with fountains and trees adorning their fronts, and Jessica realized that this was where _the_ rich people lived. The wall must have been to keep the rich from the ruffians, which she would have found repulsive if the palace itself didn't have another wall running round it like a substitute moat. It was as though the royals were saying '_Yeah, you wealthy folk may be trying to keep the scum out, and that's exactly what _we're_ doing_". It seemed that there was, quite literally, nobody more important than the monarchy.

When they reached the palace, the guards led her through the second pair of massive gates and into a huge courtyard. The court was lined with a mixture of sycamore, date and palm trees, serving to shade the various fountains carved out from the walls. From where Jess was walking, she could see that each fountain spout was a crocodile head with water spewing out of their mouths into stone basins attached to the wall. The ground was paved with white stone and the path leading straight to the main entrance was lined with more palm trees. Looking at the majesty of the palace building itself made Jess want to run and huddle in a nice corner somewhere. Indeed, she was about to try before she heard the formidable _Bang_ of the great wooden doors shutting behind her. The soldiers urged her on with the points of their blades and she obliged, really trying not to think about whatever fate would greet her. She hoped against hope that they wouldn't just kill here. She'd like a chance to at least plead her case.

They made their way to the entrance and one guard called out to a watcher up on a small balcony type structure of the palace to open the gates. She assumed that this was what he said as the watcher then disappeared through a door and, a moment later, the heavy doors began to open.

_Ok, I am going to die,_

_Drama queen,_

When inside, Jess let out a small gasp. The front hall was at least a hundred feet high and the walls stretched a good fifty metres to another set of doors. Braziers lined the hall at regular intervals an illuminated the Egyptian paintings and hieroglyphed columns in a flickering orange light. Those in Hundra's home were not nearly as grand as the images on these walls. These depictions of gods and pharaohs stood taller than any man and their eyes seemed to glare down at the girl as she was marched by. It certainly did not serve to make her any more comfortable.

When they reached the end of the corridor, another two guards, who had been standing guard, opened the doors for them and Jess found herself practically being dragged through, into a large throne room, as though the soldiers wanted to make it look as though they'd had to deal with her struggling all the way here.

"_Hey, I was cooperating_," she hissed, but the guards ignored her and threw her to the foot of a very uncomfortable looking ivory throne perched on top of a dais. It was empty at that moment, but she caught sight of a guard peeling off from the group and hurrying through a set of doors behind the throne. Despite the circumstances, the throne room looked a lot friendlier than the entrance hall. _This_ room had windows letting the sun it, white translucent curtains draped over them, unmoving for lack of breeze. And, while it did have braziers lining the room, none were lit. Behind the throne, above the door, carved into the stone was yet another god. Ra, it looked to be this time. She was beginning to think these guys were a little obsessed with their deities. It was then that the doors behind the throne opened and a small procession of people began to file in, all in fine robes and expensive jewellery. They were likely priests or advisers; she thought and wondered who would be taking a seat on the throne. Before she could see the last people to enter, however, a hand suddenly forced her head to look down at the floor. She did so, grudgingly, vowing to poke the guy with his own spear in her afterlife.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a deep voice announcing something, or someone. Then came the shuffle of collective bowing and Jessica heard footsteps make their way to the throne. The man with the deep voice continued to announce and the girl began to find her mind drifting as the Egyptian droned on. She cast her gaze up slightly, just enough to see the foot of the throne. And then that hand forced her head down again.

_Seriously?!_

She grumbled internally but reasoned that when you're hands are tied and you find yourself facing judgement of royalty, don't growl at anyone.

The announcer was the cut off by a voice from the throne, who sounded irritable, to put it kindly. Then Jess realized that they also sounded like something else. Like some_one_ else.

_Oh, no,_

_This just got a little complicated._

Heedless of the guards still looming over her, Jessica shot her head up to look straight at the throne's occupant and found here gaze met by a pair of harsh green eyes.

Ahkmenrah, Fourth King of the… well, whatever he usually introduced himself as, sat proudly on the throne of Egypt, looking at the girl before him with cold curiosity.

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_**Heh, heh, don't you just love cliff-hangers? As always folks, reviews make me write faster so get commenting :)**_


	11. Chapter 10: Plan, Trial, and Passageways

_**Ok, so I haven't thanked anyone since before my last chapter. Sorry this turned out late again guys, but I've started my holidays now :D meaning quicker chapters and…..- sorry, got side tracked. A really nice piece of music just popped up on my playlist **__** . Aaaaanyway…**_

_**Thank you to my commenters from the last chapter: WebSurfer263, , M'andil D'andusm'aril Peredhel, and a newcomer ReaderofBooks (Hey Reader, even though you can't Fave this story, I hope you keep following :D )**_

_**A thanks to all my followers (oooh, 23. Nice X): **__Azkadela__**, DancingKitKat, , M'andil D'andusm'aril Peredhel , MD5991, Nightdaze, Obsidian Grey, OnlyTheMusic, RAINBOWSNEMESIS, Stephanie Lou, SummerMistedDragon, That-Stubborn-Biotch, TheAnimosityofMyHeart, True Essence, WebSurfer263, guardian of art and bravery, lovingpeace2, m00nlightsamurai, mackwriter, ruler of the ice dragons, spooky jaz, timeladyelf, xllamaxbuttonsx.**_

_**And to my Favouriters ( , Orchid-Bud, Sam726, Sheyla Ryddle, Stephanie Lou, That-Stubborn-Biotch, WebSurfer263,WinterFrost15, guardian of art and bravery, mackwriter, ruler of the ice dragons, spooky jaz, timeladyelf, xllamaxbuttonsx) **__[Clones a baby Toothless for each and every one of you]_

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Chapter 10: Plan, Trial, and Secret Passages

"What do you mean, 'arrested'?" Larry asked as he followed the pharaoh into the house. He would have asked this in the fields but Ahk had stormed off to their temporary lodgings before he'd got a word in edgeways. Now they were all in the front hall, where they'd been welcomes the night before, Ahkmenrah now pacing fitfully across the room. Thuoris slipped in behind them and dashed to the door leading to the main parts of the house, possibly off to tell his mother what had happened. The woman would likely kick them out of her home as soom as she heard. Larry doubted she'd want a criminal under her roof.

"I mean, she has been taken by the royal guards for a crime she didn't commit," Ahk replied, looking visibly agitated. "At least, Thuoris is sure she didn't do it. Apparently, the guards have been looking for someone since the early hours, and she didn't even know she was going to market until later this morning."

"What was the crime?" Nicky enquired, leaning against the wall while twisting the edge of his kilt uncomfortably.

Ahk rubbed the back of his head.

"Thuoris thinks it was the theft of something," he answered, worriedly. "And something important too, if it required a man hunt. The guards must have made a mistake,"

Larry frowned and found himself wondering why Ahk was acting this way. Yes, of course, it was terrible that Jess had been arrested. He'd likely feel just as panicked if it had been Nick. But the pharaoh was usually so calm and collected in situations of unease, but the way he was acting now, you'd think he'd just learned that the apocalypse was coming. Then the former night guard had a thought. What if… No, she had only been accused of stealing, they wouldn't… What was the usual punishment for theft here, he wondered.

Ahkmenrah was beginning to wring his hands now, and Larry knew he would have to calm down before they got anywhere. He stepped toward his friend and grasped him by the shoulders to stop his pacing.

"Ahk," he said, "Ahk, listen," The boy looked at him, brow furrowed and legs twitching to start wandering again. "You know where she would have been taken, right?"

Ahkmenrah nodded, haltingly.

"If whatever was stolen is really important enough for a city wide hunt, then she was likely taken to the palace,"

_Oh,_

Larry nodded, keeping his calm demeanour. There was no reason to panic just yet.

"Fine," he said, "We'll just head up there and explain that this was all just a mistake. You can translate what we have to say,"

Ahk raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yes," He gestured at his face. "It's not like they could recognise me as the Prince of all Egypt or anything,"

The older man rolled his eyes.

"Sarcasm noted," he muttered, "We'll just have to ask Thuoris, or maybe Hundra to speak then,"

"Larry, it won't be that simple,"

_Never is, is it?_

"Why not?"

Ahk shook his head.

"Trying to explain is unlikely to do anything," he said, dejectedly, "Whoever the victim of the theft was, they'll be high enough in society to demand results. There shall be plenty of well off people who'll want Jess to be found guilty and nothing you, or Hundra, or Thuoris, could do would make a difference,"

"Well, what will happen to her then?" Nick said from his spot at the wall. "Stealing can't have too bad a punishment, right?"

_Why do I get the feeling that I will not like this answer?_

Ahk rubbed a hand across one side of his face, distractedly.

"This theft launched a man hunt," he answered, "An object this valuable could mean…execution,"

The former night guard felt fingers of ice run down his spine. Of course, they _had_ to be this unlucky. It couldn't be a simple bail out job –oh no- this had to be about life and death. At least it explained the pharaoh's behaviour. Honestly, he was beginning to think that girl was becoming more trouble than she was worth.

Still…

"So negotiation's out," he said, "Ahk…"

He turned to the young man, who had slumped down onto one of the sitting mats, looking dismal. The teen looked up at him, darkly. Larry continued, "How much time do you reckon we have before a hypothetical execution?"

Ahkmenrah shook his head again.

"I don't know," he replied, worriedly, "But we should have some time anyway. Criminals would usually be sent to a cell for the night before a formal trial,"

"Ok… ok, that's good. So, with negotiation out of the window, what do we do?"

There was silence for a moment, before Ahk said, carefully,

"I have an idea,"

The older American glanced at the teen again, and noticed that a smile was tweaking the corner of the pharaoh's mouth slightly and his eyes had begun to glint, shiftily. It was the type of look that used to warn Larry to keep all sharp objects away from the young king, back at the museum. Ahk continued. "We…we _bust _her out of there. Tonight,"

"And how are we going to do that?" Nick chipped in, "It's a palace, with guards crawling everywhere,"

Ahk's smile widened.

"I may know of a hidden passage or two that'll get us in and out of the building," he said, mischievously, "One happens to lead directly to the dungeon,"

Nicky instantly perked up.

"Secret passeges?" he said, with a grin so wide that Larry thought his face may split any second. "Ok… that's awesome,"

The older man sighed and thought about this. The plan sounded dangerous, and he wasn't entirely sure he liked the idea of putting his son in this situation. Still, Jess was possibly in way more danger right now and they needed to get her out. Also, he doubted Nicky would stay if he told him to. The kid was twenty one, he should know his own mind.

"Fine," Larry said, finally, "We'll head up there tonight. But, when we get her out, we'll have to make our excuses and find somewhere else to stay. This would cause Hundra no end of trouble,"

"Agreed," muttered Ahk.

"Ok," Larry addressed the pharaoh again, "You positive she won't be trialled until tomorrow, at least?"

The young man shrugged.

"Yes, unless there's some big royal event coming up to make them rush through such things, but I highly doubt we'd be unlucky enough to arrive near such an occasion."

"Great," Larry clapped his hands together, "Then tonight, we do a jailbreak,"

oOo

Despite his upcoming birthday celebrations, Ahkmenrah, fourth king of the fourth king, ruler of the land of his fathers, was unbelievably bored. Free time was a precious thing to him, almost as allusive as water in the middle of the Sahara, and he did not take kindly to people calling him out of his free time for a trial out of the blue. That day, the young king had already spent a couple of hours in the temple, performing ritual offerings such as befits the 'High Priest of Every Temple', and the remainder of the morning had been spent negotiating trading contracts with an ambassador from some country selling silks. The man was a tedious specimen by anyone's standards if you ask him. And then, as he was just headed to the gardens to catch half an hour before he was called to arrange a guest list for the next week's celebratory events, he was told of the capture of the thief of his parent's tablet, a theft that had only now been brought to his attention. He would have to have words with his brother. The man seemed to think that he shouldn't be bothered with matters as juvenile as – oh I don't know – the robbery of his most loved possession that had been handed down to him from his now dead an sorely missed parents.

_No, of course I don't need to know little details like that_, he had thought sarcastically as he was led to the throne room. This trial would be hurried up, due to the preparations he had yet to make for his birthday cluttering up his schedule. Honestly, the teen doubted any other man his age would dread such an occasion as much as he.

The court officials had already been present, waiting like a bunch of vultures. An odious, bloodthirsty lot in Ahkmenrah's opinion. Most clung to high society like limpets hoping to leech off the power of their Paro, especially such a young one as he, who had only come into the title little more than a year previously. It was probable that they were rooting for a death sentence, given that they had likely had no other entertainment that morning. His brother had been nowhere to be seen, which was odd considering it was he who had thought to handle the tablet's theft himself.

Now he found himself seated on, to be quite frank, one of the most uncomfortable seats in the palace, staring down at an oddly dressed foreigner. He wished he could simply pass sentence now and hurry away from the constant squabbling nobles he found himself surrounded by every day. Perhaps he should. The usual punishment for royal theft was to be run through the arse with a pike and displayed outside for others to witness their slow and painful death. This quick solution sounded very tempting and he may have even passed it there and then if the accused had not done something very surprising.

Despite the multiple times a guard had shoved her head down, the foreigner forcefully raised her head and glared straight into his eyes. This came as such a shock that his immediate reaction was not to get angry at her blatant insolence, but to examine her a little more closely. She looked a little young to be a hardened thief, no older than he himself perhaps. On one cheek she sported, what looked to be, a small pale scar, faded with age. It saddened him to think that she could have been drawn into the life of a criminal at such a young age.

The guard then noticed that she had looked up and backhanded the side of her head. Her glare morphed into a looked of stunned surprise as she keeled to one side, hands tied behind her so as to render her unable to right herself.

"_**Ramose,**_" the young Paro addressed the guard, "_**Enough. I will have her speak on her feet,**_"

He heard whispers from the crowed and felt his insides squirm. He should just ignore them, he knew that, but it was them, the people, who he had to impress, no matter how foul their personalities.

"_**Paro,**_" Ramose said respectfully, before grasping the girl by the arms and dragging her to a standing position. The stranger shot a glower at the guard, but opted to keep her eyes to the floor this time. The young king then glanced at the guard grasping the recovered tablet in his arms.

"_**Put my parent's tablet back in its place,**_" he told the man, who then headed out of the hall to return the heirloom to the Temple of Khonsu.

"_**Foreigner,**_" Ahkmenrah continued, this time speaking to the culprit, trying not to let his voice crack under the pressure of every eye in the room and adjusting his crown slightly, "_**You have been accused of the theft of royal property, a crime punishable by death. My guard captain shall present me with the details but, before we begin, how would you plea?**_"

The girl remained silent, eyes still on the floor. Then she seemed to notice the room's silence, casting her head from left to right, and then dared to look up at him again, blinking as though just realizing that it was she who was being addressed. She raised her eyebrows and shrugged.

Odd.

"_**Paro, if I may,**_" Ramose said, bowing his head, "_**The girl has shown to have no knowledge of our tongue,**_"

Ahkmenrah slumped in his chair slightly. They would need a translator, or someone who could at least identify her language, and he should be there. Where was he? Oh, this was going to be tedious to get through.

He pointed at the serving girl stood by the door.

"_**You, scribe Re-emkuy should be here. Go and fetch him.**_" The servant bowed and hurried off. He turned again to the guard. "_**While we wait, I shall have the details of what happened. I would like to know how a character of,**_" he glanced at her, "_**such colourful attire managed to slip passed your men,**_"

Ramose squirmed, uncomfortably.

"_**Forgive us Paro, but my men report that a man in black was the direct thief, and that it was he who we pursued into the city. The girl was found with the stolen item and it is assumed that she is some form of go between-**_"

Ahkmenrah cut him off, eyebrow raised.

"_**Are you telling me that this young lady is not even the direct thief of my tablet?**_"

Ramose squirmed again while the noble men and women began to mutter amongst themselves, as though this were some riveting event to mutter about. The accused was paying as close attention to the conversation as they were, though it was unlikely she knew what they were saying.

"_**That is why she was not taken immediately for execution sir. Without knowledge on the true culprit, we thought a questioning was in order,**_"

The Paro rubbed his left temple irritably.

"_**Why is it that my guards insist on being incoherent idiots? How is it that you immediately assume the child is a part of some secret network of thieves and murderers out to steal the throne as you are so keen to have me believe?**_" he looked to the door of the throne room,"_**The girl needs to speak for herself, where is Re-emkuy?!**_"

It was then that the old scribe bustled into the room, tripping over his tunic slightly as he carried in several scrolls, servant following timidly at his heels.

"_**Sorry, sorry,**_" he apologised profusely, taking his place at the foot of the throne dais. Ahkmenrah held back an eye roll.

"_**Re-emkuy**_," he greeted, and then gestured to the girl who now stood, staring at the newcomer curiously. "_**The girl before me now, it appears, does not know our language. Would you…**_"

"_**Hm?**_" The scribe said distractedly as he skimmed through one of the scrolls in his hands. Then he looked up and noticed him gesturing towards the prisoner. "_**Oh, yes. O-of course Paro,**_"

The man stepped toward the girl, who leaned away from the scribe's scrutinizing gaze. The man said a few sentences, all in different languages, all to which the accused just shook her head awkwardly. That is, until his last attempt, using a language that Ahkmenrah vaguely recognised as that of a people living beyond the desert and sea. He had no memory for any of the words, despite is tutors' attempts at having him learn, but he could tell where the tongue had come from. And if it was this girl's spoken language then she must have come a long way indeed.

And yes, the girl in question, once hearing this last sentence, responded. Though albeit a little unsurely it had to be said.

Re-emkuy turned to the Paro, satisfied.

"_**She speaks with words from the savages of the far North,**_"

"_**She looks like no savage,**_" the king murmured. "_**Ask her if she knows who I am,**_"

The man nodded and asked the stranger, to which she gave an answer clearly containing the words, 'Ahkmenrah' and 'Pharaoh'.

"_**Sire, she knows you by Pharaoh Ahkmenrah. I cannot pretend to understand her completely, her tongue is slightly different to that which I have learned, but this much is made clear,**_"

"_**Pharaoh?**_" Ahkmenrah asked, "_**Curse those Greeks and their insistent alterations. I see she is a traveller, picking up such thing,**_" The scribe seemed to perk up at this and examined her with new interest. "_**Ask her if she knows why she is here,**_"

And so, the rest of the trial was conversed in this way, with Ahkmenrah asking questions through Re-emkuy while the older man did his best to translate what was said. It turned out that the girl's languages was considerably more evolved than that of the barbarians that Re-emkuy had learned. Despite the lack of understanding, the young ruler managed to acquire a basic rundown of events from her point of view, with the officials murmuring grumpily in the background, impatient for a death sentence. According to the prisoner, she had been buying fish from the market when she had seen the true thief, the man in black, run through the square whilst clutching a mysterious bundle. Naturally curious as to what he was hiding, she had followed only to discover that what he held was clearly stolen property. Seeing this, she had managed to catch him up and wrestle the tablet away from him. It was after she had lost the man that the guards had found her, holding the thing.

And, to be quite honest, this all seemed very doubtful.

Ramose voiced his own misgivings after this explanation.

"_**How are we expected to believe this child?**_"

This was met with a cluster of whispered agreements from the audience, though they probably only wanted to see _someone's _head on a pike. That could be a problem.

"_**Hmm,**_" Ahkmenrah leaned back on his throne and kept his eyes trained on her. She appeared to be trying very hard not to make eyes contact, staring at the dais, the foot of the throne, the officials, out the window at the glistening Nile in the midday sun. Anywhere but the Paro himself. She was hiding _something,_ he could tell, though he somehow doubted it was about the tablet's theft. It was something else. But what to do with her…

Ramose continued.

"_**Wisely, we have never fully trusted those who live beyond our lands, and now we find this alien with stolen property,**_"

The 'alien' in question seemed to pick up on the guards tone and grumbled something under her breath, likely still miffed at him smacking her earlier. Ramose scowled and jabbed her sharply in the back, to which she made loud protest. A few people in the background snickered and the girl growled something else at him.

"_**What did she say?**_" Ramose snapped at the scribe, who had sneakily gone back to reading one of his scrolls.

The other man shrugged, eyes still trained on the papyrus.

"_**Something about you being the rear an ox, or something of the like**_" That earned her another deadpan thwack to the head.

"_**Ramose, enough,**_" Ahkmenrah ordered. "_**You do not wish to-**_"

It was then that the stranger did something, yet again, completely unexpected, especially considering her apparent defiance up to this point. Seemingly noticing the court's enthusiasm at her captor's low opinion of her, she sunk to her knees and began to cry. Her shoulders began heaving dramatically and she gasped out theatrical sobs as tears were squeezed out of her eyes and sent running down her face.

Ahkmenrah was stunned and found himself shifting in his chair, uncomfortably.

_What do I do?_

Everyone was either staring at her, or him now, wanting to see how he would handle the situation.

"_**Re-emkuy,**_" He gestured for the scribe to join him on the dais as the court's conversation began to increase in volume at this new turnout. The older man hurriedly leaped to his side. "_**What is she doing?**_" the young king asked, perhaps a little bit panicked. He had been tutored in the arts of math, reading and writing. He had been groomed for diplomatic discussions and war counsels. He'd been trained in the art of combat from the age of five. However, he had absolutely no knowledge of how to handle crying women. There just wasn't any lesson that had covered this. And everyone was still whispering.

"_**She appears to be crying Paro,**_"

"_**Yes I can see that,**_" he snapped, "_**But why?**_"

"_**Do you want my opinion or is that a question for her?**_" The girl then let out another wail and Re-emkuy sniffed. "_**I don't think we'll be able to get much out of her,**_" he muttered, "_**But I think it may have something to do with the fact that she is on trial for her life and that the others' desire for a death sentence could likely be smelled a mile away, common language or no**_"

"_**Oh, wonderful, I'd hoped to forget about the vultures,**_" Ahkmenrah murmured in response. Those present had risen their conversing considerably by now and it was beginning to grate at the royal's ears. That, coupled with the accused weeping, was making the throne room unbearable.

He just wanted them to shut up. All of them. But if he tried and no one listened…

"_**Ramose,**_" he called to the guard, "_**Call for silence,**_"

The man bowed and cleared his throat.

"_**THE PARO WILL HAVE SILENCE!**_" he barked, and the throne room fell into quietness, with only a slight snivelling coming from the prisoner. He then looked to the boy on the throne. "_**What is your judgement, sire?**_"

And now it was time to come to a decision. Ahkmenrah looked at the girl sniffling on the floor and felt a twinge of pity for her. It sounded as though she had simply been caught in this unfortunate affair. However, once the news of the tablet's theft got among the people, and it would he knew that much, the citizens would be hungry for _some_ result. How would he look if he set free a suspect, especially to _this _crowd? Yes, this was a difficult matter to decide, and there was also the fact that something about her seemed undeniably false. She was hiding something, and his father had always told him to keep the true in the city, but the false in your home. He needed to keep an eye on this girl, and that couldn't happen if he had her killed _or _set free.

"_**I have come to a decision,**_" he said. At this point he thought it safer to pin her with a lesser crime to direct other accusations away from her. It would seem unfair, but not to the public. It was also better than sending her off to be executed. "_**Of the robbery of my parents' tablet, I find believe this girl to be not guilty,**_" A few of the spectators made loud protests, until Ramose shouted for them to be quiet. "_**However,**_" Ahkmenrah continued, this time putting a bit more volume in his voice, "_**I do find her guilty of disrupting the job of my guards and handling royal property, crimes that do not warrant execution. Instead, she shall be put into service in the palace.**_"

A collective murmuring filled the room, but nobody bothered to protest. The Paro gave an internal sigh of relief and relaxed a little in the throne. At least they were somewhat satisfied and he shouldn't be making any enemies today. This being said, Ramose and Re-emkuy both glanced at him, brows raised. They were the sort to question his decisions for the right reasons, and Ahkmenrah was secretly thankful for this. He'd make sure to explain his reasons to them later. The prisoner, however, looked completely clueless. She'd stopped crying and was looking about, perplexed.

"_**This trial is adjourned,**_" he told everyone, then stood and headed for the door. When he finally stepped out of the room and shut the doors behind him, shutting off the sudden jabbering of an entire hall of officials, Ahkmenrah leaned on the polished wood and groaned. With one arm he slipped his crown from his head, ruffling his hair when it was free from the decoration.

"_**Such a nightmare,**_" he muttered, peeling away from the door and heading down the tall hallway. He heard someone open the door behind him.

"_**Ahkmenrah!**_"

"_**Re-emkuy,**_" Ahkmenrah turned around to see the scribe bustling up the corridor, scrolls still at hand. He pulled up beside the Paro and glanced briefly at his crownless head.

"_**You should probably put that back on,**_" he said, "_**Everyone will be leaving soon,**_"

The teenager sighed and placed the crown back on his head, grimacing at its weight.

"_**Is there a reason you have stopped me Re-emkuy?**_"

The man in front of him fidgeted slightly.

"_**That sentence you passed. What on Geb's earth are you thinking?**_"

"_**It was the best thing I could do to keep that lot satisfied without having her executed,**_"

The scribe glanced at him sympathetically.

"_**Of all the people to try and please, those are who you choose?**_"

"_**It isn't a matter of choice,**_" Ahkmenrah snapped, turning on his heel to head towards the split staircase at the end of the corridor. He heard Re-emkuy scurry after him. "_**Every one of those people belongs to a family or temple nearly as old as my own. While I am the mud to hold this kingdom together, they are the bricks that form it,**_"

"_**An unfortunate metaphor sire…**_"

"_**And if the mud rock shows weakness, then the blocks could choose to crumble. They would struggle for dominance over one and other, more than they do now, and then what would happen?**_"

"_**Chaos?**_"

"_**Precisely,**_" He spun at the base of the stairs to face him again. "_**Where were you by the way? I had to send a servant for you,**_"

The man smiled and chuckled nervously.

"_**Heh, heh… well,**_"

Ahkmenrah rolled his eyes and started up the stairs.

"_**You were downstairs again, weren't you?**_" he sighed.

"_**Yes sire,**_" Re-emkuy said, meekly, following him.

"_**You still think those ridiculous contraptions down there are fit for something?**_"

"_**Oh Paro, I-I know they could be of use, I just-**_"

"_**Re-emkuy, you have no idea what **_**any**_** of them are for,**_" the boy chided, wondering why the scribe chose to spend all day fusing random pieces of metal and wood together. The entire thing seemed pointless.

The man behind him fell silent, that is until he thought to change the subject.

"_**Do you think the girl was deserving of the sentence?**_"

Ahkmenrah sighed again and shook his head.

"_**It's doubtful. Although, I cannot shake the feeling that she was hiding something,**_"

"_**Plenty to hide under the crying,**_"

"_**Yes, that was a nuisance,**_"

They had reached the top of the stairs now, and Ahkmenrah made his way down the first floor corridor. One wall was almost entirely open to the winds, serving as a window looking out across the city. Painted pillars of limestone lined the long opening, while a narrow balcony ran on the other side of them. The boy took a place on this balcony and leaned heavily on the stone barrier, taking in the view that lay around the palace whilst fiddling with his gauntlet. Before him stretched white buildings, hundreds of feet below, blinding him with the reflected midday sun, with people still bustling in between them. The heat pricked at his skin uncomfortably but he stayed where he was, taking in the musky scent of the air and watching the glimmering Nile ribbon its way around the city and passed the palace. In the distance, he could just about see the small triangles of the Great Pyramids decorating the horizon, far away up the River. They were a majesty to see, even from this distance. The yellow desert could be seen stretching towards the horizon from every direction, giving the great city a sense of isolation, as though it were the only city in the world. "_**How am I meant to rule all this when I can't even handle one crying woman?**_" he murmured.

"_**Well, she did put on quite the performance,**_" Re-emkuy replied, taking a place beside him.

Ahkmenrah rubbed his hands over his eyes and bowed his head.

"_**What am I doing? I shouldn't be on the throne. I never expected… This wasn't meant to happen.**_"

He felt the old scribe place a firm, but comforting hand on his shoulder.

"_**I know Paro,**_" he murmured, gently, "_**I know,**_"

oOo

_Well, that was beyond demeaning,_ thought Jessica as she tried wiping the moisture from her eyes with her shoulder, her hands still bound behind her back. _Not to mention a strain on my acting abilities._

Ahk no. 2 had just exited the hall, leaving the multitude of finely dressed people to their mutterings. Most, she noticed, glanced her way with slight disappointment, and Jess hoped that that was a good thing. It hadn't been hard to pick up how much these people had been hoping for a death sentence and she trusted her staged breakdown had done something to soften the Pharaoh. He had certainly _looked_ sympathetic, maybe a tiny bit. Then again, he could have just as easily just have been extremely uncomfortable. It was hard to say with his consistent deadpan expression, and the girl briefly wondered how long it had taken him to practice it.

The guard who had been giving her quite a beating today, then pushed her shoulder roughly to face a side door out of the throne room.

"Ok, what is your problem?" she griped, irritable, stumbling toward the opening. Across the room, she saw the old guy, the one who spoke terrible English, heading towards the door through which Ahkmenrah 2 had exited. "Hey! Hey, you with the scrolls!" she yelled, hoping to get his attention. He was the only person who at least knew the basics of what she said, and he was the only person who could tell her what was going to happen now.

The man spun at the sound of her voice, spotted her questioning look, and simply gestured for her to go with the guard now escorting her.

"But where is he taking me? What's going to happen?!"

But the man had already left, leaving her to be driven through the door and into a narrow corridor, only lit by the occasional wall sconce. It was just her and the guard now, the man having left the rest of them back in the throne room to march alongside her, hand firmly gripping her shoulder. Jessica had noticed how, throughout the… she supposed it was a trial, Ahkmenrah had addressed _him_ rather than the other guards. She guessed that this meant he was their boss. This didn't make her feel much better, and she thought it wise to avoid another smack. All the same, she still wanted to know where she was going.

"So uh…" the girl began, looking to the left of her, where the man was walking. "…where are you taking me?"

He remained silent. This made her nervous, so she tightened her jaw and fastened her eyes dead ahead. At the end of the corridor, another door edged closer, and the girl really hoped she wouldn't find an executioner behind it. She unconsciously began to slow down, which only earned a hard nudge forward from her captor. When they reached the end of the corridor, the guard reached out a hand and pulled the door handle, the hinges squeaking as the door opened. Beyond, thank whatever god was watching, was just a kitchen. Everywhere, there were wooden tables and shelves, stacked with clay pots and bowels, while bundles of herbs and heaps of spices cluttered the workspaces. Servants in plain white tunics, wraps or dresses bustled around, some kneading dough and salting meat, while others stoked the fire pit at the end of the room or carried baskets of linen and cloth through a door leading outside. Jessica allowed herself a sigh of relief before she was led to the fire pit. Her companion gestured to the man stoking it, who nodded and stooped to pick out a couple of black strips of leather from a basket near the flames. Jess wondered what they were until the servant began stretching the material experimentally before rolling one into a cylindrical shape.

Then the girl remembered where she'd seen similar leather before.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me," she complained, her stomach dropping as the guard at her shoulder cut away the rope tying her hands together, grabbed her arms and roughly presented her wrists to the waiting cuffs.

oOo

Secret passages.

Nick doubted anything would ever top this. Sure, their kinda sorta friend's life could depend on them right now but seriously, in whatever situation, secret passageways were _awesome._

There they were, huddled behind the bakery, Ahk on his knees, dusting away sand and dirt with his hands. According to him, the opening buried underneath would drop into an underground tunnel headed straight for the dungeon. It had been built as an escape rout in case of an attack on the royal family. Ahk had also said he'd used it to sneak into town on occasion, though it didn't look as though he'd been near it yet with all the dust covering it up. Still, Nicky couldn't help but grin inwardly at the thought of this rebellious kid side of the pharaoh.

Eventually, Ahkmenrah let out a grunt of triumph as he carefully lifted the stone slab he'd just uncovered, to reveal a darkened hole in the ground.

"Will we be able to see down there?" Nick whispered, glancing up and down the allay they were in to make sure nobody was watching. The street was silent though, every building dead to the world.

"We'll have to feel our way," he heard Ahk murmur back. Nick looked back to the opening. Ahk had already sat down and swung his legs over the edge and the American could tell that both the pharaoh and his dad would barely have enough shimmy space to get down. Nevertheless, the young king managed, edging over the rim and dropping neatly into the tunnel below. Next, it was Larry's turn, then his own. After sliding down the hole himself, Nicky's stomach made a sickening swooping motion as he fell into darkness, before he felt his feet hit solid ground. He found himself in pitch darkness, unable to even see his hand before his face.

"Ok," he heard Ahk whisper, "Keep a hand on the wall and just keep walking,"

And they set off, making their careful way through the darkness. Nick kept a hand on the left wall, noticing that it seemed to be built of limestone bricks. Hopefully this meant that burrowing animals didn't make a habit of lodging in the tunnel. Despite this, the tunnel still kinda smelled as though something had died down there. After a few yards, the tunnel began to incline upwards, running uphill toward the palace. It took a while to make their way through the tunnel, maybe half an hour, before arriving at an apparent fork in the path ahead. Nick didn't even notice, keeping to the left side, until he felt a hand deftly pull him back and direct him down a connecting tunnel on their right.

"You'd have ended up behind a statue of Isis on the second floor of the palace had you continued down there," Ahkmenrah's voice muttered in his ear. "Stay close,"

"Right," the young New Yorker mumbled back, slightly embarrassed. "Sorry,"

After continuing for another three minutes or so, the company halted, Larry and Nick slamming into Ahk's back at the sudden stop.

"Ow," Nicky hissed, rubbing his chin.

"Sorry," Ahkmenrah apologised, then added, "We're here,"

"I can't see anything,"

The pharaoh made no answer, but Nick heard his scrabbling about in front of them for a moment before a slit of light appeared on the ceiling. Their section of the tunnel was illuminated with orange light as Ahk pushed the stone slab up from the hole, leaving an opening similar to the one they had entered from. The American took a moment to glance behind them, but saw only a sheet of shadows swallowing the path that they had come.

"Ok, who wants a boost?" the pharaoh whispered, linking his fingers together and crouching to form a platform for one of them. Larry went first, letting Ahk lift him before worming through the opening. When his feet disappeared over the rim, the man called down to them.

"Coast is clear, but keep quiet. There may be someone nearby,"

Then it was Nick's turn. With a slight run up, he jumped up to the narrow opening, Ahk boosting him up by the foot. The two New Yorkers then reached down and pulled the young pharaoh up to join them.

Brushing himself off, Ahkmenrah looked about them.

"Haven't been here in a while," he said.

They had found themselves in the middle of a narrow corridor, the only light source being widely spaced sconces on the walls.

"Which way do we go now?" Nick asked as the pharaoh knelt and slid the slab back into place to hide their entrance.

"That way leads down to the cells," his friend replied, nodding down the corridor. "The other way leads up to the palace."

"Ok, then let's get down to the cells," Larry murmured, brushing passed Ahk to head the way he had specified. Nicky followed, his breathing shallow for fear of drawing unwanted attention. He'd always thought of dungeons as cold and damp. This place just felt stifling and humid, like a sauna but without the rejuvenating steam. A bead of sweat trickled down his back and he found himself thankful that _he'd_ not been shoved down here to rot. At the end of the corridor, they came to a long room, lit by a single brazier in an alcove at the end. The wall to their left made a succession of arches, each opening out to a room beyond. Each stone curvature sported a set of iron barred gates, held shut by a large brass padlock type contraption. That was odd. Nicky hadn't thought that padlocks had been around in ancient Egypt.

Anyway, these doors cut each room off from the rest of the chamber. The young man realized that these must be the cells before peering through the bars of one and only seeing sand piled in the corners.

"Jessica," Ahk hissed as he made his way silently down the room. "Jess, are you here?"

No answer. That wasn't good.

When the Egyptian finished checking each cell, he turned to the others with a confused look.

"Where is she?" asked Larry.

"She should… she should be here," Ahk said, unsurely.

"Maybe she's in another dungeon?" suggested Nick. But before their friend could answer, voices drifted down the corridor down which they had come.

Larry backed away from the entrance as the voices got closer.

"No leaving the way we came," he whispered, "Where do we go?"

"This way," Nick felt Ahk grab him by the shoulder and heard his dad let out a surprised yelp as the pharaoh dragged the two backwards.

The voices down the corridor stopped, their sources having heard the former night guard. And then the footsteps started, hammering towards them. Ahkmenrah had dragged the two to the back of the room, stopping next to the brazier that burned brightly in the gloom.

"Larry, help me with this," he said, grasping the rim of the large metal disk. Larry followed his example, grabbing the edge with both hands.

_What _are_ you doing?_ Nick wondered.

"Ow, hot-hot," the older man hissed as the two dragged the brazier slightly forward, not far enough to be noticed by a casual onlooker, but enough to uncover a small raised stone square set in the floor. With a quick movement, Ahk pressed down on it with his bare foot and it sunk below floor level. A slight rumble permeated the room and a section of the alcove the brazier had been in slid into itself, dislodging settled dust and revealing a narrow getaway tunnel.

_Another secret passageway haha,_ Nick thought with a grin.

He didn't have much time to giddy himself, however, as the hurrying footsteps were now much closer. Soon, the people owning those feet would enter the room and see them leaving.

"Come on," Ahkmenrah urged. He didn't have to say it twice. Nicky darted for the new opening, quickly followed by his dad and Ahk. When the pharaoh slipped by the open doorway, he slammed his palm against another stone square, this one lodged in the wall. With a _clunk_ the door slid shut again, leaving them, once again, to wander in pitch darkness.

* * *

"So, if she's not in the dungeon, where is she?" asked Nick as they shuffled sideways up the steps forming the new tunnel floor. It was too narrow to really walk properly, but at least this one didn't smell like dead bodies.

Ahk didn't offer an answer, leaving the question to hang in the air like an ominous wreath.

"Ok then, how about this," Nicky tried, "How are we going to get out now that the other way is blocked?"

"The second floor Isis statue," he muttered from behind them, "Remember, I told you that the passage behind it leads down to the same tunnel. We need to make our way up there without being seen,"

"Where will we come out?" Larry enquired.

"Corridor on the first floor. We'll make it, don't worry," he assured, "But first, we need to find out what has happened to Jessica,"

"And how are we supposed to do that? If she isn't in a cell, where is she?"

"I don't know," Ahk snapped, and then his voice softened. "I'm sorry. I'm just worried about her. She never wanted to be part of this. It would be my fault if something happened."

"Hey, she's the one who insisted to come to the needle with us," Nick reminded him.

"Oh, because of course she knew we'd all be sucked back to ancient Egypt,"

"Ok guys, stop it," Larry interrupted from between them. "Let's not go into the details of who's at fault here alright? Ahk, we'll find her. I'm sure she's alright. You said yourself that they're unlikely to have passed a sentence yet, right?"

"Yes,"

"Then let's focus on that. It'll be fine,"

After a couple more minutes shuffling up the narrow stairs, something hit Nick's shoulder, the shoulder facing the way they were heading. It was a wall. They had reached the end of the passageway.

"Uh, her Ahk?" he called back, "How do I get the door open?"

"There should be a rope on this end,"

Nick scrabbled about for a moment, but his fingers brushed against a thick, but worn rope that ran taut from the floor to the ceiling on the left.

"Now what?" he said, grasping it.

"Just give it a strong tug,"

He did so, pulling the rope away from the wall sharply. He felt the cable judder as it activating some mechanism in the wall. The door slid opened with a rumble and Nick stuck his head out of the opening cautiously. The door opened out to a huge hallway, a good twenty feet in both height and width. The ceiling was painted navy blue, decorated with golden stars and held up by two lines of pillars that ran down the hall both ways. A few metres to the right of them, the hallway stopped at a wall. Two doorways led out and into the rest of the palace. There was no one else in sight.

"Nobody here," Nick whispered and crept out from the passage. "Whoa, Ahk. You had some pretty spacious living,"

When they were all out in the open, the pharaoh closed the door by squeezing his fingers into a hidden rut in the plaster and pressing. There must have been a trigger or something in there as the section of wall immediately slid back into place.

_So cool,_

They all stood in the darkened hallway, the only light coming from a high set of windows through which spelled silver moonlight in beams. It was not much, but was enough to see by.

"Where to now?" Nicky whispered

Ahk didn't answer. Instead, Nick heard him murmuring to himself.

"I had forgotten how beautiful it all was,"

The younger New Yorker turned to his friend, who was simply standing next to a pillar and gazing up at the ceiling. In the dim light, the young man could just see a droplet of water trickle from the pharaoh's eye, which seemed to snap him into the present as he immediately looked away from the ceiling and quickly wiped the tear away.

Nick couldn't ever imagine how Ahk felt right now. He may have said something in comfort had the sound of soft footsteps not reached his ears.

"Someone's coming," he hissed as the footsteps got louder. They were coming from one of the doors leading out of the hallway. "Should we back up down the corridor?"

Ahkmenrah shook his head.

"Take a pillar," he said, before hiding behind the nearest column so that he was out of sight of the doors. Nick met his dad's eyes, shrugged, and did the same, choosing a different pillar to hide behind. He heard Larry sigh before following suit.

The footsteps could be heard echoing through the hallway now, and Nicky flattened himself against the column even more. He guessed the perpetrator had walked in now. He knew he shouldn't risk it, but curiosity got the better of him and he carefully tilted his head to glance around the structure to see who it was.

It was just a serving girl, thank god. If it had been a guard, they might have been in trouble. They shouldn't find much of a problem sneaking passed her.

As the girl wondered passed, an empty dish in her arms, the three scooted round their respective pillars, keeping out of her sight. Nick looked to Ahkmenrah at the column across from him. The pharaoh caught his eye and gestured with his head towards the door.

'_Time to go,_' was what he was saying.

Nicky nodded and crept forward to the next pillar, where his dad was hiding. He darted round the structure and tapped the man on the shoulder, gesturing for him to follow.

The three silently made their way to the door Ahk led them to, Nick glancing back now and then to make sure the retreating servant didn't look back. She was quite a way away now, the gloom of the corridor further down swelling her.

"I think we're safe," he whispered to the others and turned to face the doorway… to see another serving girl standing there, staring at them in surprise and holding a pile of crumpled linen.

Nick's yelp was cut off by Ahk's hand slamming over his mouth. With another look, the young man saw why. This servant looked very familiar, with copper brown hair hanging passed her shoulders and paler complexion.

It was Jess.

She was just standing there, in front of them, staring at them in astonishment. Her modern day clothes were gone, replaced by a plain white dress that hung to her ankles. Her red converse boots had gone too, leaving her feet bare.

"What the-" Nick began to say, but the girl had snapped out of her initial shock. She glanced cautiously over their shoulders to where the other girl had been heading, grabbed the nearest arms and dragged them out of the hall and behind a large statue of cow headed woman standing guard in the much smaller corridor beyond.

When all four of them were hidden, Jessica finally spoke.

"How the hell did you lot get in here?" Her tone wasn't cruel, or even unpleasant, as it so usually was. Honestly, she sounded more impressed than anything. "I've checked. There are guards at every door to outside. Even the kitchen has a guard," Then her eyes narrowed. "Wait, what are you even _doing_ here?"

Ahk, who had just been looking at her in confusion for the past couple of minutes, seemed to snap out of that and rolled his eyes.

"Well, our friend got arrested," he said, "Perhaps you know her,"

Jessica scowled, her cheeks turning a little pink.

"Ok first, that was _not_ my fault," she snapped, "Second, you snuck into a heavily guarded palace to… save me?"

"Well, given that you could have been executed, did you expect us to do nothing?" She opened her mouth to retort, but stopped herself. For a moment the girl seemed at a loss for words and… was she looking a little guilty? Ahk continued. "Glad to see you _aren't_ dead by the way,"

She blinked, shook her head quickly and coughed.

"Yeah, that would have been a downer on my day," she muttered.

"Not to seem ungrateful that you're alive right now," Larry piped up, "But why _haven't_ they killed you? And what's with all this?" He gestured to the get-up and linen sheets.

"The pharaoh sentenced me to servitude," she grumbled, deftly raising an arm for them to see the leather cuff she wore. "Beats becoming a human shish kebab I guess,"

Nick doubted he wanted to know what she was on about with that one, or exactly what the cuff she had on meant. Instead, he said the first thing that came to him.

"Nice dress," She didn't look at him, but she lifted a leg and slammed a heel down on his foot. He had to bite back a cry as the pain ricochet up his lower leg.

"You mean they've already sentenced you?" Ahkmenrah said, with only a weary eye roll directed towards the crippled Nick. He was right. He should have seen that coming.

"No, they brought me here for a tea party," she replied to the question, scathingly, "What do _you_ think?"

Larry cut in at that point.

"Ahk was just under the impression that you'd be held in the dungeon overnight before any trial,"

"What made you think that?" Jess asked the young king. "They just dragged me straight to the throne room. I didn't go near a cell,"

Ahkmenrah shrugged, dumbfounded.

"That's what my family _did._ They wouldn't rush to get a trial over with unless they had some huge social event to plan for,"

Jessica raised an eyebrow.

"I don't suppose a royal birthday qualifies?"

Ahk's shoulders dropped.

"Of course, we'd be _that_ unlucky," he muttered.

"There's some guy here who speaks English, albeit badly," she continued, "Re-monkey, or something like that. He told me that next week will be full of celebrations, sporting events, festivals and such. Apparently pharaohs have big birthdays,"

"Re-emkuy. I have not seen him in millennia," Ahk said with a smile. Then he frowned. "Wait…" He glanced back at her. "Who's birthday is it?" The girl looked at him, eyebrow raised higher and the pharaoh seemed to change his mind. "Never mind, don't tell me,"

"What?" asked Nick, clueless to what they were talking about. "Who's birthday is it?"

"By his reaction, I think Ahk already knows," Jess said and the young man lowered his shoulders, dejectedly. "Our good King Ahkmenrah is turning nineteen next week,"

And that's when the facts slid into place.

"Oh," he breathed.

Ahk was on the throne right now, the Pharaoh, the big Kahuna whose guards arrested Jess.

_Oooh,_

He had been the one to sentence her. Now that he thought about it, this may have been why the girl's sarcasm towards the man seemed a bit frosty earlier. Awkward.

Well, so much for avoiding anything that would tell Ahk about his age. Seemed they had a pretty exact date now.

Nick may have been about to say something to break the silence. Probably something dumb like, 'happy birthday," so it was probably a good thing that they were interrupted at that moment by sounds from some distant corridor. This snapped them all back to the present.

"You'll be found if we stay here," Jess said, quickly, "So what was your escape plan going to be?"

"There's a statue of Isis upstairs," Ahk replied, "With a hidden tunnel entrance behind it,"

Jessica blinked.

"Hidden tunnel?" she said, "This place has secret passages?" Ahkmenrah nodded.

"I know," added Nicky, "It's awesome, right?"

The girl tilted her head in reluctant agreement.

"Yes," Then she shook her head again and frowned in focus. "The stairs aren't too far away. We shouldn't be spotted. I think most people have gone to bed but, just in case," she divided her pile of linen into four and handed one to each, "Try to blend in, and you," she pointed at Ahk, "Keep your head low,"

The three muttered in agreement and they all filed out from behind the statue, Jess in the lead.

"When we get upstairs, Isis is a few feet down the left hallway," Ahkmenrah whispered, his head kept down.

"Between the wall with the paintings of some bloke on a chariot, and another guy on a throne with a disk on his head?"

"My great, great uncle and my grandfather, do you mean?" he answered, "Yes. How-"

"I was set up there to fetch wine for some rich guy with an ego almost as big as his belly," she explained, moodily. "You have invited some vile characters for your birthday,"

"Trust me," They had reached the stairs by now. The structure curled up the sides of a large, circular chamber, finishing at the second floor door built twenty feet up the wall. "I likely feel same way. Unfortunately it was easy to offend the most powerful families in Egypt,"

Nick shifted the linen in his arms, uncomfortably.

"Being pharaoh not all it's cracked up to be then?" he asked over his shoulder. Ahk chuckled.

"Not to mention a serious risk to my health,"

A moment later, they reached the second floor, the door opening into a closet sized room with corridors leading away from both ends. They took the left, a hallway painted with impressive Egyptian paintings and the occasional brazier. Nick could see the walls Jessica had mentions. One was an Egyptian holding a bow and riding chariot, what looked like leopards or jaguars at his horse's heels, running alongside. The other was of a pharaoh sitting on a sideways throne, arms held out, a familiar feather hovering above his hands. The feather of Ma'at. This one, however, was not encased in a black border. Nicky remembered Ahk telling them that the feather was the symbol of the goddess of order. He also remembered from school that the pharaohs' main job was to keep order so he guessed that this was what the painting symbolized.

In between the two walls, was the sculpted figure of a winged goddess, and Nick found himself glad that it wouldn't come to life, like most sculptures he'd met. The woman's stone eyes seemed to glower down at then, coldly.

It didn't take long for Ahk to find the opening switch. Handing the sheets back to Jess, he crouched behind the statue and scrabbled about a bit before something clicked and another door slid open, this one waist height. It was clear they'd have to crawl.

Jess took the linens from both Larry and Nick and gathered them in her arms carefully. The American wondered why she didn't just drop them somewhere and make a beeline for the tunnel. He knew _he'd_ want to get out of here if he were a servant to big gross big-headed nobles.

"Come on," Larry murmured, stooping to duck under the door's height. Nick did the same, turning when inside to poke his head out to look at the two left standing in the corridor. Jessica was gazing, broodingly down the corridor.

"Jess?" Ahkmenrah said. Her head turned to face him, a slight crease in her brow. "You don't have to be scared to go in there. Just keep counting like I told you in the shrine,"

She gave him a small smile.

"Thanks, but that's not what I'm thinking about,"

"Then what?"

She pursed her lips.

"I was arrested after I got stolen property away from a man in black. The guards assumed I was the thief,"

"We suspected as much,"

She raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Didn't think I was the stealing type?" This made Ahkmenrah smile thinly and Nick wondered what that was about. He'd have to ask him later. "Anyway, this man I chased down, I first saw him in the market and, I can't be sure, but I think he was wearing a feather of ma'at around his neck,"

"You think he's one of those Sons guys from London?" Nicky asked from his bent position on the doorway, "Only the from the original pack?"

She nodded.

"What had they stolen?" Ahk inquired. The girl hesitated before saying her next line.

"It was the tablet," he said, "I mean, the tablet from _this_ time, not ours. It looks like this lot weren't just after it in London. It looks like an on-going thing they've been – or…will be – doing for centuries," She looked down the corridor again, ponderously, "If we can find out how to get them to stop trying, then maybe that's how we get home,"

"How'd you figure that?" Larry called from behind Nick.

"I asked… ugh… Re-emkuy – that was it – to translate the last two lines of the spell I heard Ahk cast, as _he_ wasn't on hand to do it."

"You remember what I said?" he asked, surprised, "In Egyptian?"

She shrugged.

"It was just a couple of lines. No big deal," she mumbled, "Anyway, he was surprised I'd ask such a question, be he told me it meant 'to keep until you set things right," or something close to that. I'm thinking that could mean we have to finish what we started before we can go home,"

Ahkmenrah nodded.

"You may be right," he admitted, "but we can discuss this when we get out of here. Come on,"

He began to turn towards the passage, but Jessica didn't move.

"What are you waiting for," Nick hissed, trying to keep his voice level low.

"What's she doing?" whispered his dad from behind him.

"She's not moving," Nick told him, then spoke to Jess, "Let's get going, we're going to get caught,"

Ahk looked at her, concerned.

"Jess, what's wrong?"

A piece of linen fell to the floor and Jess stooped to pick it up, carefully. There was that guilty look again.

"I need to stay here," she replied, placing the cloth back onto her pile.

"What!?" the two men looking at her said, collectively.

"Now what?" Larry hissed from the tunnel.

"Jess isn't coming," the younger American answered with disbelief.

"What!?" the man repeated. "But we snuck in to get her,"

"You don't have to tell _me_ that," he muttered, without looking away from the girl.

Ahk looked at a loss for words.

"What do you mean?" he said, finally.

Jessica's face morphed into a determined grimace.

"We need to find out about the Sons of Ma'at," she explained, "Honestly, I am… grateful that you would come to find me, and your journey hasn't been wasted. I was actually trying to come up with a way to contact you at short notice,"

"But how is our journey not wasted?" Nick complained. "That first tunnel smelled of dead things, we nearly got cornered in the dungeon, and then we had to traverse, yet another, dark tunnel… sideways. And now you're saying you won't come back with us?"

"Jess," Ahk tried, "Come with us, we can look for the Sons outside,"

"That's for you to do," she insisted with surety, "But the tablet is here. How much are you willing to bet that they'll come after it again?" This was met with silence and she nodded, as though this confirmed something, "Also… I may have already located a particularly impressive library that'll likely give us information. _Someone_ has to stay. It might as well be me. I can keep an eye on the tablet and do my own research while I'm at it,"

"And what if they do try to steal it?" Ahk retaliated, "What could _you_ do about it?"

She waved the question away.

"Bridge to cross," she said.

Nick could see she had made up her mind. The girl was not going to budge, Ahk or no.

"Jess, are you sure?" he asked her, which was met with concerned glance from the pharaoh.

She nodded.

"I'm sure," The girl then looked once more down the hallway. "They'll likely be wondering where the linen's got to," she muttered.

"Ok. Ahk, let's go,"

"But-"

"Ahk,"

The young king looked helplessly from Jess, to Nick, to Jess again. Then he tightened his jaw, nodded, and turned to the passageway. Nick backed up to allow him room as he stooped to get in. When the pharaoh had turned round to face the girl again, Nicky could just about see her crouching in front of the opening, wresting the sheets on the ground beside her.

"Good luck then," Ahk said flatly, "You've chosen quite a beautiful prison,"

This was met with a small grin.

"Well, I happen to know where a certain secret passageway is now," the girl said, peevishly. Suddenly, the sound of people nearing their hiding spot met their ear and Jess darted her gaze in the sound's direction. Quickly, she reached down to something on the floor outside the tunnel, whatever it was hidden by Ahkmenrah's silhouette. With a final smile, she whispered, "See you soon."

Something clicked and Nicky realized she must have triggered the opening lever as the door began to close. The mechanism inside the wall clunked as the stone panel glided back into place, sliding over Jessica's peevish, and slightly hopeful, expression. Finally, the opening closed, and they were once more left in darkness.

There was silence for a moment, before Ahk spoke.

"I hope she can keep a civil tongue on her. The nobles wouldn't take kindly to backchat."

"Well, what do we do now?" asked Larry.

They heard the pharaoh sigh in the darkness.

"What she said I suppose," he grumbled. "We'll have to ask around for the Sons,"

The younger New Yorker frowned, noting his friend's clipped tone.

"Are you ok?" he asked, softly.

"I'm fine," the other man answered, voice flat, "Let's leave this place,"

* * *

_**Wow, I know I keep promising earlier uploads but stuff kinda finds a way to creep up and swamp me. Anyway, hope you like it. I do find that feedback gets me to write quicker so please leave a comment. Say what you like, what you think will happen, stat a conversation? I love getting stuff like that. Anyway, I'm not planning on stopping this any time soon so please keep following. I have a good tonne of surprises in store ;)**_


	12. Chapter 11: Wallowing

_**Ok, so yeah. Beeeeen a while. Sorry :\**_

_**So, I won't recap (that would take the whole chapter) but do feel free to skim through the previous chapters (honestly, that would be great). I will, however, give you a recap of names. That I can manage so:  
Ahk, Larry and Nick: You would not be here if you didn't know sooooo….**_

_**Jess: Bit of a git, afraid of the dark, nobody's entirely sure what to make of her yet, has frequent conversations with a voice inside her head aaaaaand she just got arrested**_

_**Thuoris: that drunk kid we met when they first arrived in the city**_

_**Hundra: drunk kid's mother. The lads currently stay in her house and work in her fields**_

_**Re-emkuy: a scribe in the palace and close friend of young Ahkmenrah's**_

_**Ramose: that guard captain fellow who arrested Jess**_

_**Menkhaf: that one sheep herder guy that was mentioned once a couple of chapters ago**_

_**Kheso: the city**_

_**Yeah, sorry for all the odd Egyptian names. I'm afraid with all the space that took up, I'm going to leave the shout outs until next time, see who picks this up again. A**__**nyways, If you're sticking with me, you are my favourite person. So, without further adue, let's get started….**_

* * *

**Chapter 11: New Day, Wallowing and the Man with No Name**

"_**Well, I… can't really tell whether what you're doing is brave, or extraordinarily stupid**__,"_

"**Thanks**_," the girl grumbled as she moved a senet piece forward three spaces. "_**You just know exactly how to make me feel a good 20% worse about all this**_,"_

_She'd found herself in the dream room again, her surroundings still fuzzing out of focus whenever she looked about her. Her buddy, the mysterious hooded mass of static, had been there too, the senet board already set out between them. To no surprise, he was still difficult to make out. His form flickering constantly like her subconscious had a bad connection. But… was it just her, or were parts of him kind of… shifting into focus occasionally? Perhaps the resemblance of a shoulder here, or a hint of black canvas shoe maybe? Whether it was just her imagination or not (though, strictly speaking, everything about this guy was in _'her imagination'_), these qualities fuzzed out of view as soon as they appeared._

_She resolved to think about this later, and turned her thoughts to his initial statement. He had a valid point. Had it really been a good idea to stay behind?_

"**You think I should have gone with them, don't you?**_"_

_The figure's fuzzy shoulders shrugged and he picked up the throwing sticks._

"_**I really don't know**__," he sighed, "__**I couldn't claim to be a prophet I'm afraid**__,"_

"**Maybe I should leave through the secret passageway tomorrow**_,"_

_The stranger's deep voice made a chuckle as he moved his piece forward._

"_**You won't**__," it said, "__**If you've made one thing clear to those men, it's that you won't be backing down from a decision. You said you'd find out more about the Sons of Ma 'at, and that's what you'll be doing**__,"_

_Again, he had a point, the girl thought, snatching up the sticks for her turn. There was no way she'd let herself leave without something to take with her. She'd have to find that library again tomorrow, and find some time to sneak in and… wait._

_The girl's stiff heart sunk to her gut and she let the throwing sticks slide out of her hand to clatter onto the floor. How could she have been so stupid?_

"**I… I can't do it**_," her voice said, softly. The stranger looked up at her from the spool he'd been fiddling with._

"_**Sorry, what did you say?**__"_

"**I CAN'T READ THE SCROLLS!**_" She yelled in a sudden outburst that made the figure flinch and distort violently with her sudden rising of emotion. She snarled at the sticks by her feet and struck them away from her, sending them skittering across the ground. "_**THEY'RE WRITTEN IN FLAMIN HEIROGLYPHS… AND IN **_**EGYPTIAN **_**UNDER THAT!**_"_

"_**Uh, Jess, you do know that- wait…**__" Mr Static flickered again, momentarily vanishing from sight, before fuzzing back into focus again. "__**Ok, that felt weird**__,"_

_Jessica ignored him and carried on, cursing in a very colourful fashion as she smacked her head a few more times. _

"**I can't even speak to people**_," she muttered, "_**how am I meant to get anything done without knowing what I'm reading? I should just leave tomorrow, find some other way-**_"_

"_**You seem to be overlooking a couple of things**__," the stranger interrupted as he waved a finger in the air. The throwing sticks flew into his hand from where she'd chucked them. "__**First off, the tablet was stolen. Didn't you want to keep an eye on it? The thieves are sure to try again. Secondly**__-"_

"**And what if they do? What am I supposed to do then, stop them? I'm a **_**shelf stacker**_**. Ever hear of a hero who shelves organic produce and baked beans for a living?**_"_

"_**It's an advantage**__," the figure continued, "__**You know what their goal is, and where they'll be at some point or other. At any rate I don't think you have to worry abou**__-"_

"**Ok, so I'll know where they'll be, but I can't warn anyone here about them**_" she huffed, cutting him off. "_**To begin with, according to Ahk, nobody really believes they exist. And, however way you look at it, **_**I still can't speak Egyptian**__,"_

"_**You're not**__-" _

"**And what if there's a fire and I suffer a gruesomely painful death because I don't understand the fire drill…**_"_

"_**Jess-**__"_

"… **I could end up getting executed for saying the wrong thing…**_"_

"_**Jessica**__,"_

"…**What if a guy hits on me and I miss an excuse to punch their kidney stones out because I have no idea what they're saying**_-"_

"_**HEY!**__"_

_She halted and blinked, as though snapped out of an endless cycle of fretting. She glanced at the figure and just saw his shape seated before her, head cocked to one side and fingers twirling the sticks, thoughtfully._

"**What?**_" she asked, "_**What is it?**_"_

_He paused, and then chuckled softly._

"**What is so funny?**_"_

"_**Well, first**__," he replied with an amused tone in his voice, "__**I wouldn't worry about guys hitting on you. Not with your personality**__,"_

"**Shut up**_,"_

"_**And second… you**__."_

"**I beg your pardon?**_"_

"_**Ha! You haven't noticed, have you?**__" Jessica could tell he was likely grinning behind that static._

"**Oh, mate. You are trying my patience**_," she growled._

"_**Huh**__," The figure leaned over the sennet board and the girl could almost feel his gaze drilling through her eye sockets. "__**Jessica**__," he resumed, "__**You **_**do **_**know we've been having this entire conversation in Egyptian, don't you?**__"_

_Her eyes widened and she chocked back a nervous laugh._

"**What- what on Earth are you on abou**_-" Her voice failed her as she suddenly noticed the unfamiliar words trickling out of her mouth, and she clamped a hand over it. After a minute, Jess hesitantly removed her palm from her lips and swallowed. "How…" she croaked in English, "How did I_ do _that?"_

"**Maybe you'll do better than you thought in the waking world**_," the figure suggested, a chuckle still in his voice as he reverted back to English himself, before scooping up the sennet pieces and stuffing them into the little draw built into the board. "_**I wish you luck out there**_." With a wave of his hand, the game set vanished in a small pile of billowing grey fog._

_The girl blinked, and then noticed her surroundings skitter in and out of existence. She realized that her body must be on the brink of waking up and felt herself panic._

"_Wait," she tried, "You know what just happened. Tell me what's going on," When the figure began to get to his feet, Jess leaped forward to grab for the figure's arm. When her fingers closed around his flickering limb, the digits felt a tingling sensation roll up to her wrist. Despite this feeling, she could clearly feel the texture of some kind of fabric under her fingers. The arm itself seemed to react to her grip, the limb becoming more visible as she looked on. Now she could just about make out a dark grey sleeve, made out of wool maybe, or cotton. "What-"_

_But it was too late to ask any questions. The figure gently prised her fingered from his arm and both he, and the room, guttered out of existence, leaving her to wake up._

oOo

Jessica woke to someone prodding at her ribs with their foot. It was the head cook, his face etched with a permanent scowl. He was glaring down at her.

The man had taken an immediate disliking to her when told that she'd be living in the kitchen, and so proceeded to dump her in its most cramped corner to sleep on nothing but a crumpled rag between two tables. Jess hadn't a clue why he'd been so ticked off by this idea. _She_ hadn't leaped at the prospect either.

She didn't take any of it personally though, despite him barking at her whenever she walked through the kitchen. From what she'd seen, he yelled at everyone, and she found herself thankful that she wasn't one of those working in his kitchen 24/7.

Right now, however, the kitchen was where she slept. This apparently gave the man the right to jar her from her sleep with a rib kicking.

The girl blinked and sat up groggily, only to be snapped at by the cook to hurry up. She grunted to say she was getting up, deciding not to speak as that would likely get a box round the ear. She guessed he'd likely take any unfamiliar word as an insult.

The man gave her one last kick (which sorely tempted her to break his leg) and stormed away, perhaps to peel grapes for his royal majesty.

_His royal majesty, huh,_

Fuming silently, the girl stood up, kicking the rags back to crumple against the wall like it had killed her puppy or something.

She supposed that wrongly enslaving someone just to please the crowd wasn't a very big deal to young Ahkmenrah. Well, he hadn't exactly made any attempt to apologise for that. She'd just been clad in black cuffs and dumped into an ancient Egyptian laundry room to scrub linen and forgotten about.

It seemed the young king had improved with age. She thought about how Ahk had acted back at the museum. He'd been kind, understanding. He'd let her out of that cupboard, and when she'd urged him to leave the reading room, his mind was only on the friend he didn't want to leave behind.

_Yes,_ she thought, passing the man that stood guard by the servant's door to the small outside area, _He has changed._

And, of course, she could leave at any time. At least that was one upside to their attempted rescue. Now she knew where the secret passage was. She would just have to _keep_ telling herself that.

Outside, the morning sun skimmed the top of the small courtyard. The yard was cast in shade, though the air was still uncomfortably hot. Sweat trickled down her neck and dampened the neckline of her dress.

In one corner, there stood a fresh pile of unwashed linens. Maybe a dozen women, young and old, slaves and servants, crowded around a shallow pool in the centre of the yard. They were all hard at work, scrubbing fabrics vigorously, dumping the clean ones in reed baskets beside them. When a basket was full, other servants would take it away through a rug covered door. Jessica knew that this door led to a connecting courtyard, open to the sun. The linen would be hung up there to dry. The previous day, Jessica had checked to see if there was an exit through that way. There was. Another door led straight through the inner wall and into Upper Kheso. Unfortunately, that door had two rather lethal looking guards preventing anyone from sneaking in (or in her case, sneaking out).

With a begrudged sigh, Jess grabbed an armful of linen off the pile and knelt beside the pool. And she thought about her dream.

oOo

Nicky wasn't the type to slander, even in the privacy of his own head. Most of the time, he really did try to be a glass half full kinda guy. He'd try not to judge people by their actions. But honestly, right now, Ahkmenrah was making him want to drag his royal butt across the field and dump him into the Nile.

The guy had been silent all the way back to Hundra's house, his face a brooding mask of mope. The same could be said for this morning. Despite actually being able to wake up to sunlight for only the second time in millennia, Ahk had just got up, made his bed, and headed to the fields without even bothering to eat. You'd have thought he had the weight of the world on his shoulders but no, he was just moody because Jess had opted not to come with them. Sure, it was a bit… frustrating that the rescue had turned sour, but did you see Nick taking brooding to sparkly vampire standards? No. You did not.

"Dude, you couldn't have made her come with us," He told the young king as he hacked away at the trench. The heat was passed uncomfortable and Nicky sorely wished he had a bottle of SPF 50. His dad didn't look much better, digging his own trench in the other side of the field.

Ahkmenrah was just across from him, chipping away at the dry soil at the base of a large rock. It was in the path of the progressing ditch and so kinda needed to be shifted. The plan was to loosen the dirt at its base and roll it out of the way.

Ahk gave him a brief glance.

"I could've tried harder," he grunted, stabbing at the ground with his spade.

"Wouldn't have made a difference," Nicky stopped digging and leaned on the spade shaft, frowning at his friend who'd gone back to glaring at the ground he was assaulting. "Why are you so upset by this Ahk?"

"Not upset," the young man mumbled.

"Then kindly explain why you've been acting like someone shit in your shoes all morning,"

Ahk scrunched his nose at the comparison, but the look vanished before he straightened up and looked at him.

"It's my fault," he said with a shrug of his shoulders and a dead expression.

"What?" Nick replied, bewildered, "How the hell is it your fault?"

"She didn't want any part of this. I told her what the tablet could do. I hid in her house until you and your father came along, which, might I remind you, got her house blown up. It was I that brought us here, inadvertently I grant you, but it was still me who said the words. It was my tablet that she got arrested for saving and it is I that passed the sentence of servitude,"

"So that's what this is about," Nicky muttered, driving the spade into the ground again. "You're mad at younger you,"

Ahk spread his arms in frustration.

"Did I not mention the abundance of other things?" he said. Nicky shrugged.

"Yeah but… most of that is as much her fault as anyone else's," he reasoned, "She didn't have to give you a place to hide out, she didn't have to come with us, and she certainly didn't have to go chasing after thieves. There is no way even you can keep blaming yourself for that." He sniffed and deftly rubbed sweat from his brow. "Nah, you're mad at something you did over four thousand years ago,"

Ahkmenrah was silent again. After a few seconds he wordlessly continued his violent crusade against the immovable rock. Nicky decided not to interrupt him. He may have finally started to think about what he was really angry about. At least, Nicky hoped that was the case, and that he wasn't just wallowing in the same brooding soup he'd been stewing in all morning.

It wasn't until a good five minutes had passed when Ahk spoke up again.

"I don't even remember it you know,"

"Hmm?"

"The trial. I don't remember it… I don't remember Jess ever being there, in the palace,"

Nicky frowned and glanced up at him.

"You saying you didn't recognise her at all when you first met her in our time?"

Ahk shrugged.

"To me the first time I met her was three years ago… chronologically speaking. Her family came to New York and we had a brief encounter,"

"Did not know that…" Nicky replied, then, "so, you're mad that you don't remember?"

Ahkmenrah stabbed the flint spade into the ground so hard that it stayed wedged at an odd angle. The young king then started kicking at the rock, trying to topple it to one side.

"Why would I be mad at that?" he grumbled, "Why would I be mad that I don't remember sentencing someone unjustly. Believe you me, that… _child_, on the throne, he's no idiot. He knows she didn't do it but he enslaved her anyway because he wanted to please the crowd," at this, he put on mocking tone. "And apparently, this was so _insignificant_ to him that he forgets it ever happened,"

The young New Yorker raised his eyebrows. This was quite a bit of angst the pharaoh had been carrying.

"Hey," he said haltingly, ceasing his digging, "It's been four thousand years buddy, I think you get a pass on forgetting a few things,"

Ahkmenrah kept stamping.

"But I remember everything else," he grunted, giving a kick with each word, "I remember every council I had to attend, I remember every -*_grunt_*- treaty I signed. In fact, I remember this birthday… I remember…"

It sounded like he wanted to add something else, but decided not to say it.

"Remember what?" Nick prompted. Ahkmenrah just scowled and gave the rock another heavy kick.

"GODS CURSE THIS STONE!" he yelled, which got the attention of that fella with the walking stick… Menkhaf, that was his name. He was wandering about the opposite field, keeping eyes on a bunch of sheep when he'd heard Ahk's cursing. The old man shouted something across to the pharaoh, sounding irritable, and the pharaoh hollered something back. Though, Nicky couldn't understand a word that was said, he doubted the exchange was a PG rating. Looking at Ahk bellow at the sheep herder made him think of early teenage tantrums he'd had with both his parents. He should really start apologising to them for those.

Across the field, the old herder gave them an angry flick of his arm, and turned back to his sheep. Ahkmenrah fumed for a moment, but then the petulance drained from his face and he sat down on the ground with a hefty _thwump_, back against the rock, head in his hands. Nicky looked at his friend for a minute.

"Been holding that in huh?" he said, dropping his spade. Ahk nodded and Nick sighed. He brushed the grime from his hands and walked over to him. "Budge," he muttered, nudging him with his foot. Ahk budged and Nicky slid down to sit beside him.

"What kind of person was I Nicky?"

"Don't know," the young man replied, "But the you I know... he's a good guy. Maybe you should stop punishing that guy for something he can't change,"

Ahkmenrah didn't say anything for a minute.

"I'm sorry," he murmured.

"For what?"

"My behaviour… it's been pretty bad,"

"That's ok Ahk," Nick assured, "Just, no more wallowing in self-torment, ok?"

Ahkmenrah frowned.

"I'll endeavour to keep it internal," he muttered.

Nicky slapped him on the shoulder.

"Thaaat's the spirit," he said, "Now, we're gonna move the rock and finish the trench,"

"Right,"

"…and then we're going to start asking around, like Jess told us to,"

"Yes,"

"And there will be no more brooding because, if there is," He changed his voice to a whisper, "I will actually throw you into the Nile,"

Ahk blinked at him.

"….ok,"

Nicky smiled, stood up, and held a hand out to the pharaoh.

"Let's get to it then,"

oOo

The room was dim and foreboding. Round stone columns towered above the occupants, holding up a ceiling painted with the giant image of Nekhbet, the vulture goddess. Her wings stretched wide from one end of the room to another, and her beady eyes seemed to glare down at the slim man who stood, nervously before the ivory desk. Three guards stood behind him, clad in red and gold, baring the small wooden doors behind him. The only exit.

Stood behind the desk, scouring over an extensive map of all Egypt, was the king's brother.

The man must've been at least two decades older than the Paro, and yet, here he was, seated at the war council and not on the actual throne. Nobody knew the exact circumstances of Ahkmenrah's ascension, but the man counted it a lucky escape. No one should want this guy as their king.

Kahmunrah was a vicious, bloodthirsty man by nature. He found pleasure in torture and even more so in killing. There were skeletons in his closet over which demons would call foul.

And now the man stood before him, twisting his grubby tunic between his fingers in anxiety. He eyed the prince, who had not yet given him heed, and threw fearful glances at the sharpened khopesh that rested by his hand. Its curved black blade winked evilly at him in the torchlight.

It felt like an eternity before Kahmunrah spoke.

"**_Do you know why you're here?_**" He did not even look up from the map.

"**_B-because I… uh_**,"

"**_Speak up_**," the prince urged, voice a false mask of patience. The slim man cleared his throat.

"**_Because I failed, sir_**,"

"**_That's right_**," Kahmunrah sighed and stood straight, staring down at the man, loftily. "**_You failed_**," His cold eyes narrowed, boring into the man's own. "**_What was your name?_**"

The man opened his mouth to reply, but Kahmunrah held up a hand to silence him.

"**_Actually, I don't care_**,"

The prince ran a hand over the khopesh's blade, almost thoughtful. He picked it up and slowly walked around the table, absently whirling the weapon in circular motions. The blade skimmed through the air with a methodical, _shink, shink_ sound.

"**_You failed to bring me what. I. wanted_**,"

"**_Please, I can try again, just_-**"

The man's sentence was abruptly cut off by the sudden blade at his throat, blocking the next syllable from his lips.

"**_Oh please_**," Kahmunrah hissed, a cold smile on his lips, "_**interrupt me again. I do so wish to cut your throat right now**,_"

As though to emphasise the point, the khopesh dug deeper into the man's neck. He didn't say another word.

Kahmunrah stepped closer, close enough to smell the salted meat on his breath.

"**_I wanted that tablet_**," he said softly, "**_You told me that you could get it for me, but what happened?_**"

"…** _It was taken from me_-**"

"**_It was taken from you_**," the prince pursed his lips, "_A**nd not too long afterwards, the guards find it in the hands of a grubby little girl and they bring the damn thing right back to my brother. Now tell me, did **_**she_ take it from you?_**"

The man tensely shook his head.

"**_N-no sir_**,"

Kahmunrah raised an eyebrow.

"**_Then who did?_**"

The man swallowed.

"_**It was a stranger si**r_,"

"**_A stranger?_**"

"**_A man, dressed all in black_**," His heart was thudding wildly now, trying to break free from his chest. He could feel the cold edge at his throat, and a bead of liquid crawl down his neck. Whether it was sweat or blood, he did not know. "**_I- I did manage to sneak it out of the palace sir, passed the priests and guards. But, coming up to the palace, I was struck from behind. I came to a minute later, but… but the tablet was gone. I heard the guards had caught sight of a man in black, so… so_-**"

"**_I assumed the man they spoke of was you_**,"

"**_N-no sir_**,"

Kahmunrah examined the man's face, his gaze sending a cold shiver down his spine. The prince's eyes were like a snake's, watching for a hint of movement, waiting for an opportunity to strike. After a moment, his lip curled.

"**_You didn't even manage to reach the inner wall_**,"

And then he stepped back, taking the blade away from his throat. The man breathed in a choked breath of relief.

"**_Who would you recommend?_**" the prince continued.

"**_Sir?_**"

"**_To try again_**," Kahmunrah threw the khopesh down onto the table and it clattered loudly against the ivory. "**_You have proved rather incompetent so, I am asking you, who would you recommend to try again?_**"

The man blinked.

"**_Uh… there is a man that I know. His name is Amehn. He lives in lower Kheso_**,"

Kahmunrah nodded and turned to face him again, smiling coldly.

"**_Thank you_**," he said, graciously.

And then he stabbed the man in the belly.

The man grasped in surprise, and pain. Then his lifeless body slid to the floor and lay there, unmoving. Blood began pooling around the corpse, and Kahmunrah wrinkled his nose.

"**_Get this cleaned up_**," he told the guards, and then nodded to the dead man with no name, "**_And we don't want anyone finding him. Give him to the crocodiles_**."

The guards bowed and did as they were bid. As they dragged the man's body out of the room, the prince took one last glance at his shocked face.

The man had failed.

He'd failed to bring him the tablet,

He'd failed to talk himself out of this,

And, perhaps more importantly… he'd failed to notice the knife.

* * *

_**Alright so, not much in the way of plot in that one I'm afraid. It was more a catch up and a character introduction. Anyways, chapters coming soon so don't hesitate to follow up this beauty ;) and leave a comment or two. Please…. Leave a comment…. Please. I like hearing from people. You guys are so awesome. Have a good weekend fellas x**_


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